


The Sanguine Witch

by MemoryMonkey



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Biting, F/F, Fluff, Hugging, Internal Conflict, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Vampirism, blood sucking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23617051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryMonkey/pseuds/MemoryMonkey
Summary: Months had passed since the missile crisis and a new year had begun - For Akko and her friends, now in their second year as students of Luna Nova, things were looking better than ever in the new era of magic.That is until something dark begins to manifest inside of Akko. Sleepless nights lead to an onset of strange occurrences. Doubt and fear would replace excited smiles as an invisible calamity slowly makes itself known inside of Luna Nova.In light of everything, how is Akko supposed to respond to her growing feelings for a certain blonde witch?
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 321
Kudos: 509





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I write a lot of fluff. Just so you know, this isn't going to be a lot of fluff.
> 
> Big thanks to beta readers unableToSleep and DinoSmore !

Following the release of the Grand Triskelion, Luna Nova had been thriving both magically and academically. The global opinion of magic changed drastically for the better after everyone saw Akko and Diana chasing down the missile and Luna Nova quickly regained its reputation as a prestigious school of witchcraft. This event having happened near the end of the school year, the following year saw that Luna Nova had received more applications than it had ever received before.

For all of the new students, Akko and Diana were like celebrities. The name Cavendish was even more well recognised than it had been previously and all of a sudden, Akko was almost as famous as her. Occasionally, timid first years would wave at Akko, say they love her, or even ask for her autograph if they were particularly bold. It took a while to convince them that she was actually nice.

Also following the Grand Triskelion incident, the red, blue and green team dorms started spending a lot more time together, usually in Luna Nova's new club room that was among the spendings of the school's sudden influx of wealth. It was carefully constructed to replicate the architecture of Luna Nova's older buildings but with a more homely interior with carpeted floors, sofas lining almost every wall and even snooker tables.

There was one development that no one had expected: Headmistress Holbrooke had taken it upon herself to start a new tradition. In a few months’ time, Luna Nova would host a dance - one which the Appleton boys would be invited to attend. Appleton was a prestigious and well known boys’ school. Though well known for its disdain of witches - their ideology regarding witchcraft had apparently been turned around completely following the release of the Grand Triskelion and Holbrooke hoped she could use this to bridge their worlds.

Of course, the young ladies of Luna Nova were extremely excited about this. 

Lessons had just ended for the day and Akko would have been talking about the upcoming dance if she hadn’t been laughing her ass off with Amanda about their last lesson with Professor Finnelan with Diana and Sucy watching in amusement. In the club room with them, Constanze and Jasminka, who weren't really interested in the dance, were becoming increasingly competitive with one another at the snooker table. This left Hannah, Barbara and Lotte who sat on the sofas near the rest of the group as they excitedly discussed the dance. There were a few faces Akko didn't recognise and the atmosphere was pleasantly relaxed, save for Amanda's uncontrolled laughter.

"It was damn good Akko, I'm so glad it worked!" Amanda laughed.

"I can't believe you got so many people on board," Diana shook her head.

"Sorry I didn't invite you," Akko grinned. "I thought you wouldn't want to be a part of it."

"It's probably for the best that you didn't invite me," Diana sighed. "But every single time Amanda coughed, everyone in the room stood up and sat back down again? How did you even get them to do it?"

"I have my charms," Amanda said with a wink, leaning back against the wall with her hands behind her head.

"The old hag was going out of her mind," Akko spat, clutching her core and laughing again.

"Don't you think that now you're a second year, and a popular one at that, you should be a better role model?" Diana asked, exasperated. They all knew that despite her objections she found it hilarious. But she would never say it.

"Yeah, and I am when I'm around first years!" Akko insisted. "That was a second year class."

"I don't think high fiving Holbrooke and making a secret handshake with Ursula is being a good role model," Sucy snickered at the image of several impressionable first years watching Akko's antics. The young professor had kept Ursula as her name and remained the Astrology teacher at Luna Nova, even after the world found out that she was in fact the long lost Shiny Chariot. While she returned to her natural red hair colour and behaved a lot less timidly, she was just as caring and committed to being a teacher as she was before.

Akko laughed awkwardly, fiddling with her hair tie. Diana had visited the Magical Item café a few days ago and noticed an enchanted hair tie that supposedly was impossible to lose and ended up buying it for Akko, who was losing things all the time. Akko was overwhelmed by the small gesture and it brought Diana a pang of joy that was probably bigger than it should have been whenever she thought about it.

"Well at least I don't spend my time creeping them out!" Akko pouted at Sucy.

In the corner of her eye she noticed Constanze and Jasminka at the snooker table again, the latter wearing the most serious face Akko had seen her wearing in her life. Akko well understood the will to be obsessively competitive over the most menial of things, but she hadn't imagined snooker would engage the Russian witch to such a degree.

"Oh my god~" she heard Barbara hiss from behind her, and turned to see the three girls on the sofas hopping up and down with excitement, reminding her of the dance.

"Yeah Sucy, you're basically a C list celebrity since you're in Akko's dorm, you should be more of a role model," Amanda teased.

Akko's stomach rumbled quietly. She was really hungry.

"And you're a D list because sometimes people see you talking to her, yet I don't see you showing any commendable qualities," Sucy shot back.

Akko zoned out of their argument to look at the clock. It was half past five, still some time until they would usually eat.

"Hungry, Akko?" Diana asked quietly, connecting the dots and scooting closer to Akko. While sometimes Akko was taken aback by Diana's perceptiveness, she had long since accepted that the blonde simply was very good at reading people, so she just nodded. "Actually, I haven't eaten all day," she admitted awkwardly. "What say you and I head off to the canteen early? I'm not finding Sucy's and Amanda's discussion to be particularly enlightening."

Akko shared a grin with Diana. Following the missile crisis, the two of them had got closer. She was one of Akko's best friends, like Lotte and Sucy. Of course, they had shared a degree of closeness since Akko had followed Diana back to her manor in first year to stop her from leaving the school, but their relationship had grown considerably since then.

"Sounds good to me~" Akko chirped, standing up and earning glances from a few people around the room.

"If it's alright with all of you, Akko and I are going to the canteen," Diana explained. After a few nods from people in the group, the two of them set off.

"Hold on a second, did you say you haven't eaten all day?" Akko asked suddenly as they walked through the corridor. Diana laughed slightly, which was always a welcome sight.

"You heard me. I've been awfully busy and I planned on spending time with everyone in the afternoon before going to eat with everyone but I wasn't strong enough," she joked.

"You work so hard," Akko commented absent-mindedly. "You should take better care of yourself.

"You're telling me that?" Diana asked with sincerity.

"Ehe~" Akko giggled awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. "I take very good care of myself, thank you. How do you think I'm in such good shape?" Akko asked as they travelled through long, mostly empty corridors. Most students were in their dorms or at clubs right now.

Diana raised an eyebrow at Akko's comment and Akko flexed her arms jokingly, a bit relieved to see Diana smile again and shake her head before she suddenly remembered how extremely hungry she was and her stomach rumbled loudly.

Diana frowned.

"Shall we walk faster?"

Akko cleared her throat, facing the ground in embarrassment and slightly upping her pace. It felt like there was a vacuum in her stomach and if she didn't eat soon she would die. Despite this, the pleasant smell as they entered the canteen didn't do much for her.

The two took plates and loaded them with food before finding a relatively secluded table for two in the corner. Like the clubroom, there were a few other students in the canteen and the atmosphere was pleasant and amiable.

It wasn't the first thing that came to mind when Akko thought about spending quality time with a friend, given that she and Diana didn't spend time alone together as much as she wished they did, but it was very refreshing to be able to sit down and eat a lot with Diana doing the same. She reached for the water jug and poured herself a drink. Then another. Then another. Diana stared confusedly as Akko continued to drink, much more than she usually would.

"Are you alright, Akko?" Diana asked, concern evident in her voice. "Do you feel light-headed at all? Too hot? Should I take you to the nurse-"

"I'm fine," Akko shrugged. "So!" She suddenly perked up, her eyes widening and meeting Diana's. "The dance! What do you think about it?"

"Ehh," Diana trailed off awkwardly. "To be honest it reminds me of courtly traditions - you would be presented with a suitor and be expected to dance, and so on," she mumbled. "Something I'd rather hope to avoid." She looked up and Akko was wearing a face somewhere between gloominess, frustration and confusion. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to put a damper on the mood-"

"No, it's okay, sorry for asking." Akko sighed. "I guess all the boys will be flocking to dance with you. Now I think about it, that must be tiring."

"What about you, Akko? You're looking forward to it, right?" Diana asked hopefully. But for some reason, when Akko had found out Diana's lack of enthusiasm for the event, she had lost some of hers too.

"Ehh, I dunno. Maybe there'll be someone cute there," she shrugged with a slight grin.

"You don't sound too taken in."

"I guess the novelty has died a bit since first year. I just don't find the idea of frolicking with a bunch of lads as exciting as I used to."

"Frolicking with a bunch of lads," Diana repeated to herself, chuckling at her phrasing. "Said lads aren’t going to frolic with you if you keep eating like that. You'll get fat at this rate," she joked.

"Hey!" Akko frowned, but when Diana started laughing she couldn't be angry. "Crap, you're right," she admitted, feeling bloated after her feast. "I'm gonna pop. You're gonna have to roll me up to my room."

"I don’t think so. Rolling you up stairs is most certainly not a task I’m capable of.”

Akko was stunned, her mouth and eyes open in mock offence. Somehow Diana's laugh lifted her up so quickly and so easily - perhaps it was because she was usually so serious and had a lot of stress hidden behind her calm persona but it made Akko so happy she got light headed.

Soon, the rest of their group arrived as one large unit - somewhere along the way, Lotte, Barbara and Hannah had got the others talking about the dance, and Akko and Diana got up to join them at a larger table. Only paying partial attention to their conversation, Akko poured herself another cup of water.

  
  
  
  


"Ugh, I'm ill," Akko complained.

"That's what you get for eating double your bodyweight," Sucy monotoned from her station.

Akko, Lotte and Sucy had retreated to their dorm for the evening and while Akko couldn't really say she was ill, she was feeling quite poorly.

"I'm sorry Akko," Lotte offered from the bunk above, awkwardly trying her best to comfort the brunette as ever. "I'm sure we could take you to the nurse if it's bad-"

"Or I could heal you up nicely with this baby," Sucy grinned, holding a dark purple potion between her fingers and feeling the edge of the glass in an intimate manner.

"No, Sucy!" Lotte insisted. "Don't lie to Akko, I'm sure you're just trying to test on her again!"

Sucy shrugged.

"Thanks Sucy," Akko huffed. "But I'll pass."

The Japanese witch eventually settled for browsing the witchnet on her crystal ball, lying in her bed. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours, the dull pain in her stomach barely fading. Soon Lotte was asleep, then Sucy, but Akko was lying awake in her bed thinking about Diana.

About the dance, rather.

It was just that the thought of Diana dancing romantically with a boy which upset Akko. She couldn't explain why. It was probably due to her reservations for this event which she had expressed towards the brunette or how downtrodden she looked when Akko had brought it up.

Still, it was ultimately Diana's choice who she would dance with. Or even if she danced at all. Probably.

It was well past two in the morning before Akko could calm her nerves and go to sleep.

  
  
  
  


It was Friday. The last session of the day, where students usually tended to mess around a little more than normal because of the excitement of the upcoming weekend. Prior to the lesson, Amanda and Akko had started a competition to see who could annoy or confuse Finnelan the most.

No one could explain the mass of watermelons on the professor's desk when they walked in, and Akko could only attribute it to Amanda, who was uncharacteristically early, and found it inexplicably hilarious as Finnelan walked in and stared at them. As well as the constant dripping noise Akko was creating with a simple spell in the corner of the room that Finnelan kept trying to find the source of whenever the students were copying notes, Amanda would use levitation spells to slightly reorganise the professor's notes whenever she faced away from the class to write on the board.

Many students failed to hold in their laughter when, half way through the lesson, Akko pulled a typewriter out from under her desk and began to type up her notes.

Finnelan, at her wit's end, slowly turned and stared daggers into Akko, who had fortunately prepared her answer to her questioning eyebrows.

"I'm having some nasty cramps with my wrists recently which are giving me problems writing," Akko lied. "The headmistress gave me permission to use this until they're dealt with."

Sucy was just about smiling and Lotte was desperately trying to keep a straight face as, every time Finnelan spoke, Akko would start loudly typing.

It lasted for the whole lesson.

"And Miss Kagari!" Finnelan snapped as the students were leaving after class was dismissed. "Need I repeat that any students who are achieving unsatisfactory academic attainment will be prohibited from attending the upcoming dance? I should hope you're studying in your free time," she commented offhandedly, returning to her notes which she swore she had organised before the lesson.

Akko paled slightly. Despite her conversation with Diana, she definitely didn't want to be banned from the dance in case she ever had a change of heart. She had heard many of her friends obsessing over it and talking about the preparations they'd be doing leading up to it and had been slightly taken in herself.

"Akko, my dude," Amanda called out, falling in step with her in the corridor. "Where the hell did you get a typewriter?" She laughed. Akko was awkwardly trying to lug the large device through the corridor along with her school bag.

"I'll go to great distances to beat you," Akko smirked as Amanda recoiled, remembering their competition. "And there's no way I'm not the winner!"

"Hell, sure, but you're in a world of trouble. You didn't get old Holbrooke's permission, did you?"

"Heh, no," Akko grinned. "But it's worth it."

  
  
  
  


Another habit that had recently developed between the nine witches was that on Friday evenings, Amanda would host movie/game nights in her dorm. She had a surprisingly large collection of card games/board games, Constanze would set up movies and Jasminka would supply snacks.

This was one of those evenings.

Akko was perched on Jasminka’s top bunk, massaging her temples. It was uncharacteristic but she had a bit of a headache following all the excitement and noise. She was aware of Amanda lying on her own bed underneath her and Hannah sat on the edge of the bed by Amanda while Diana stood and leant against the bunk. Constanze was sat on her own bed fiddling with a stanbot and everyone else was sat in the middle of the room, paying some attention to Amanda's game of Luna Nova branded Cards Against Humanity and some to their own private conversations - Akko caught moments of Lotte and Barbara excitedly discussing the brand new Night Fall release while Hannah lectured Amanda excitedly about "proper" dancing etiquette and the dress she should wear.

Amanda laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck and facing the underside of the bunk above her.

"You know I don't really do dresses, England."

"Oh my god, that again? And stop calling me England!"

"Hey, Sucy," Lotte's voice was suddenly heard. "What are you gonna do for the party?"

Sucy sighed.

"I assumed that you'd forget I existed if I stayed really still," she chuckled. "I don't know, seems like a good time to look around the parts of the botanical gardens they don't want me in, or make another trip to Arcturus forest for some ingredients."

"It's like when Arthur wouldn't go to the ball because he was looking for the cure to Belle's curse!" Barbara said suddenly, sparks appearing in her and Lotte's eyes as they resumed their fangirling.

"Hey, Akko, you don't think I should wear a dress do you?" Amanda complained to the brunette above her.

"Eh?"

"Oh my god, you're taking Akko's advice over mine?" Hannah pouted.

"Pf, you look fine in a suit. Suits you," The Japanese witch giggled shamelessly at her pun.

Hannah briefly paused, remembering the awkward moment where she discovered that a cute boy she saw at Appleton was, in fact, Amanda under a transfiguring spell. She sincerely hoped she didn't find out, but trusted Akko to be too dense to blackmail her with it.

"But what the heck's Akko gonna wear?" Amanda suddenly asked no one in particular. "She doesn't exactly suit fancy dresses," she chuckled.

"I think she won't do too badly for herself," Diana asserted. "Provided she doesn't use another Cinderella set," she added with a small laugh.

Akko cringed at the memory of the party - of Andrew specifically. He was stung by a Cupid bee Sucy had brought in and when he claimed to love her she was flustered at first, but now it was just an uncomfortable memory.

Amanda paused.

"What, she didn't tell you?" Diana grinned. Akko froze. "She and her dormmates waltzed straight in-"

"Wait, you don't want them to know about your little episode, do you?" Akko nervously threatened. "Let's just leave it at that."

Diana visibly paled, clearing her throat and straightening herself out.

"You're right."

"Well damn, now I really gotta know," Amanda was grinning. Constanze nodded with a grunt of agreement, suddenly curious.

"I'll tell you some time, it was great," Sucy said, smiling at the memory.

Akko and Diana briefly met eyes before looking away. Diana's 'confession' while under the effects of the bee was a completely different memory to Andrew's. Probably just because she knew Diana better, the words 'I love you' had bounced around in her head for weeks. They were looking right into each other's eyes and Akko had felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest before the blonde quickly turned to leave. It flustered her when she thought about it, even now.

"Well in any case, you need to be less of a disruption," Diana said, trying to change the subject. "Last lesson was particularly extreme. If things continue to escalate, I'm going to have to step in."

"Yes mum," Akko droned.

"Pff, whatever," Amanda complained, lazily raising her wand and flinging a spell in Diana's direction - one that the blonde effortlessly blocked, shaking her head. Upon realising the British witch's proficiency in defensive magic, Amanda had taken to absentmindedly throwing spells at her, much to Hannah's and Barbara's horror.

The group ended up putting an old Disney movie on for the evening and ending just a little past curfew. After many thanks and goodbyes, the groups ended up dispersing into their dorms to sleep again.

"You're getting along pretty well with Barbara," Sucy teased the Finish witch, resuming her work at her station as if they'd never been out in the first place. They went about their usual evening routine with Lotte reading, Sucy brewing and Akko browsing the witchnet for some time, until yawns became regular and they decided to turn off the lights and sleep.

But sleep didn't come to Akko. She had let her mind dwell on the Cupid bee incident for too long, and was getting worked up over it again, she told herself. She stood up and carefully walked to the window, opening it wide and breathing the fresh night air for a moment before going to her bag for a snack and returning there.

The moonlight and the cold wind were comforting after the loud evening, and after eating the snack and closing the door, Akko returned to bed with a clear mind.

But still sleep didn't come. She knew she shouldn't look at the clock because that would only stress herself out. She was lying silently for so long she surprised herself and picked up the first volume of Nightfall from Lotte's bookshelf, flipping through the first pages.

Once she'd got through the first chapter she decided she didn't quite get it like the ginger did, but more importantly didn't feel any closer to sleep. Something in her even told her that her textbooks would give her better luck but they only gave her a headache.

She stood up in frustration, noting they were past 2 am again, and decided to go through a quick walk around the school. There was no way there'd be patrols at 2 am. If she was quiet, she'd be fine. As she crept along the corridor of the Western dorms and into the third floor of the main building, she became increasingly excited. Sneaking around school grounds at night was something she certainly hadn't done enough before.

She moved deftly down the staircases and into the main hall, unsurprised to find most of the doors locked. She became increasingly relaxed and awake as she jogged nimbly around the corridors, even poking her head into a few classrooms and storerooms she hadn't seen before. Stumbling into Finneran's unlocked office, she considered some kind of prank before noticing the magic circles surrounding her documents and thinking better of it.

There was an open window in one of the labs. Akko barely gave it a moment of thought before climbing carefully through it, sprinting through the fields and feeling increasingly free.

She heard an owl in the distant forest.

She saw a light switch off in the observatory.

She must have had a lot of pent up stress as she eventually wore herself out, resigning back through the window in the lab and sneaking back up the stairs. Painfully aware of the occasional creaking floorboard, Akko pushed her door open, stepped into her dorm and quickly closed it behind her.

As she lay down in her bed, she noticed the subtle glow on the horizon as the sun was preparing to rise.

Good thing it was a Saturday morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Akko's eyes slowly crept open, briefly blinded by the bright sun. As she mumbled something tiredly and moved her hand to block the sun from her eyes, she saw Lotte perk up from her seat at her desk. Sucy was nowhere to be seen.

"Akko! You're awake," Lotte commented with some surprise.

"Morning Lotte," Akko slurred, sitting up and shaking her head. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just that," the ginger fidgeted awkwardly. "You slept in until one o'clock."

"Huh?" Akko hissed, turning to the clock and finding that it was lunch time already. "Damn," she whispered, turning to lean her back against the wall. Memories of her insomnia in the night before flooded back and she sighed. She lifted her arms up and gave them an experimental wave, finding the ache she expected was not present at all. Lotte was watching her with concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I’m alright. We have weekends for a reason, I guess," Akko sleepily mumbled, lying back on her bed.

"Professor Ursula came by this morning," Lotte began. Akko was listening. "She was announcing the costume party Luna Nova is doing this evening."

"W-this evening?"

"Yeah, we all thought it was really short notice too, but trust Holbrooke and Ursula to do something like that," Lotte smiled softly. "People are saying it's to give people a chance to find dresses or such for the dance with Appleton and get used to them."

"I don't have a dress," Akko complained. "Pff, it's a costume party, I don't have to wear a dress."

"What are you thinking of wearing?" Lotte asked.

"I dunno, casual dress?" She hazarded and the two shared a brief laugh.

"I'm meeting with Barbara soon," Lotte said after a short pause, folding her book closed and standing up, stretching her arms above her head. "I'll see you later, Akko!"

  
  
  
  


Apparently the party was taken more seriously than Akko had assumed - in the main hall stood a large part of the student body, many of which were in formal dresses, as Lotte had predicted. Akko had snagged a dramatic cloak from a local shop and was using it as an excuse to hide her comfortable casual clothes underneath.

She noticed a lot of familiar faces moving between small groups, each of their conversations bouncing around in her ears at once. Akko shook her head, furrowing her brows as she scanned the crowds for her friends - though her vision had become slightly blurry.

"Whoa," she muttered quietly, staggering briefly. She felt nauseated, disoriented - the sounds of conversation were loud but slowly being overpowered by a deathly ringing in her ears. Akko leaned forwards, swaying from side to side as she slowly lost her composure.

"H-hey," she called out to no one in particular, her heart rate rising. She could barely hear a thing. She could barely see a thing as she stumbled forwards, suddenly calling out Diana's name. She felt like she could always seek comfort in the knowledgeable blonde witch.

"Diana!" She called again, falling to her knees, unaware and not considering that she was making a scene. Diana was kneeling in front of Akko, arms on her shoulders, worriedly asking if she could hear her. "Diana!" Akko called again, her arms snaking up Diana's as she leaned forwards and held her close, suddenly calming down slightly.

Diana stared in confusion as Akko sobbed, holding her tightly. There was a circle of onlookers around them.

"H-hey, Akko..." She whispered. "It's okay, I'm here..."

"Diana?" Akko asked, making out a mass of blonde hair in front of her, the ringing in her ears replaced with a soothing voice.

"It's me," she said quietly. Akko's breathing slowed. "Let's get you out of here," she soothed, suddenly standing and supporting Akko's weight. After shooting an expectant glance at the crowd around them, who quickly moved away, Diana made her way for one of the doors that led outside. Though the sky was darkening and it was surely cold, she knew Akko needed space.

She sat down on a bench against the main building near the door, a light wind tickling her skin. Akko sat next to her, cradling her head.

"Akko, what's happened?" Diana asked, her voice laden profusely with concern.

"I don't know," Akko breathed, her heart rate finally slowing to a normal rate as she leaned back against the bench and took deep breaths of the refreshing night air. "I just couldn't get to sleep," she said as she shook her head.

"S-sorry to hear that," Diana offered. "I recognise the difficulty in winding down after Amanda's game nights. I want to take you to the nurse though, I haven't seen you do that before."

"I haven't either... It was kinda scary," Akko awkwardly chuckled. "And I'm fine now, I promise. Totally, completely fine. You took me outside and now I'm good. I just... I guess the crowd was too much." Akko scanned the grass in front of her, bending under the wind, before she looked up and met Diana's eye. "Thank you... I'm sorry for embarrassing you like that."

"No no, it's fine. You scared me more than you embarrassed me."

"S-sorry..." Akko mumbled, glancing at the blonde witch. The wind lifted her hair dramatically - she hadn't noticed before, but she was wearing an extravagant white and blue dress. She looked absolutely stunning as the moonlight reflected off her wide, concerned eyes.

Diana was looking back at her, her deep diamond eyes practically glowing with affection, the held eye contact causing no awkwardness. They just sat and gathered their thoughts between the two of them.

Akko could see the distant swaying trees on the edge of the school grounds, as clearly as she ever had. She could hear Diana's careful, measured breathing and the muffled conversations from inside. Akko shook her head, slightly confused by her sudden sharp senses. Something really weird was going on and it was beginning to worry her - she knew she couldn't attribute all the weird happenings to just some strange illness or sleeplessness. She didn't have any idea what it was and she certainly didn't want to bother Diana with it until she knew more about it. She might end up going to the library at some point.

"Thanks for coming out here with me," Akko mumbled while she looked down to her feet.

"Oh please, I didn't mind leaving at all. I’m not particularly disposed to that kind of thing." There was a pause. "Besides, you would have done the same for me, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then don't worry about it. What are friends for?"

"Hmm," Akko paused. "Making fun of each other?" She hazarded. Diana chuckled. "Doing movie nights and staying up until 4 AM and laughing about inside jokes that aren't actually funny?" Diana raised an eyebrow. "And then not judging each other when you sleep in until 1 PM?"

"Did you sleep in until 1 PM?"

"Maybe."

"I'm not judging you," she added quickly. Akko laughed.

"Good." Akko grinned, her mind inadvertently wandering about all the things she'd like to do with Diana. "Trying out new recipes you've heard of and failing miserably but having a great time anyway," she continued. "Trying out the new café down the road and eating so many pickled plums you have to call in a helicopter to pick you up and deposit you back in Luna Nova." Diana could barely suppress her laughter at her last suggestion. "Or going to the beach and riding a camel! You know they do camel rides in England?" She suddenly asked, eyes wide.

"I do, I dare say I've lived in England for a while," Diana chuckled and met Akko's eyes. The same thoughts were going through her head. Akko was making her imagine the two of them doing these things together.

"And then we could go swimming and play games in the sea until our skin dries up and we look like pickled plums, then dry off and get changed into something warm and write messages in the sand and watch the sun setting," she fantasized, her eyes falling shut.

Diana didn't often think about this kind of thing and was taken in by the scene. She could almost feel the sunlight on her skin as Akko pointed out the silly shapes the clouds were making. Akko would drag her to the ice cream stand and buy them both triple scoops and end up not being able to pay for it, so Diana would gladly foot the bill herself. They would probably end up sitting on the beach together just talking until the sun had long since set and it was getting too cold to stay out.

She couldn't imagine doing that with anyone apart from Akko.

"Diana, there you are!" A voice called from across the field. Coming around from the front of the building, Hannah and Barbara were walking briskly towards the two, pausing a short distance away when they saw Akko sitting next to her.

"Good evening you two. How did you find the party?" Diana asked innocently.

"F-fine, thanks..." Hannah answered.

"Have you been here the whole time?" Barbara asked.

Diana nodded gently.

"I was just taking care of Akko." As Diana said that, Akko offered an awkward wave. "She's okay now."

Diana's dormmates shared a knowing look before grinning.

"Alright. It's getting pretty late though," Barbara glanced at the black sky.

"Yeah, we'll see you in our dorm, Diana," Hannah added. "Take your time," she smirked at Barbara, who snickered back and the two of them disappeared.

"They raise an excellent point," Diana sighed, standing up slowly. "You need to make sure you don't keep going to sleep too late."

"Yeah," Akko mumbled, jumping up.

This time the silent glance they shared was just a tiny bit awkward.

"Well then," Akko said to break the silence, suddenly leaning forward and hugging Diana. "Thanks for this evening. It was really nice," she stated. Diana had little hesitation before holding the brunette in her arms.

"You too. You make surprisingly good conversation when it's just the two of us," Diana said with another chuckle.

"Hey! I always make the best conversation!"

"Goodnight, Akko," Diana said and the two separated. Akko watched her leave for a moment before remembering to respond.

"G-goodnight!" She called back, watching Diana wave before disappearing inside. Her heart rate had risen again after their hug.

She chuckled to herself. Conversations like that were the reason she wanted to spend more time alone with Diana.

Eventually she decided to heed the blonde's advice, turning and making her way upstairs to her room. With the whole evening full of night sky, soft breeze and the uplifting conversation with Diana fresh in her head, she crawled into bed, just before Lotte and Sucy turned off the lights, and fell asleep quickly.

  
  
  
  


On Sunday mornings, Amanda liked to sneak out early to get some broom practice in. Her dorm was almost right next to Akko's, and when the brunette had awoken early and followed Amanda to the field out of curiosity, she had insisted that the redhead trained her.

Soon Diana found out about this and decided to join in - then Akko's dormmates. Eventually, it became one of the weekly events that the three teams shared together as nine witches.

This Sunday morning, Akko felt groggy. She scanned her room in irritation as her dormmates were getting changed, sitting up and shaking her head.

"Did you sleep better last night, Akko?" Lotte asked, noticing she had woken up.

"Yeah, thanks," she mumbled. "A bit."

"Why so groggy, Akko? I thought you were the one who wanted to do broom training," Sucy chided.

"Ugh, I'm just tired," Akko shot back and jumped out of bed. Whether or not she was not a morning person, she was determined to be the best at flying in the whole school - maybe apart from Amanda or Diana. Or Nelson? Akko furrowed her brow, deciding to quickly get changed and grab her broom before leaving her dorm with her two friends.

The grass was thick with dew and despite the bright sunshine, there it was quite cool even without the breeze as a subtle mist formed on the edges of the field. It didn't seem to bother Amanda at all as she rocketed through the air, her typical grin plastered on her face as she flew.

Usually the group would wait for everyone before starting, so they were unsurprised to see Constanze tinkering with her broom while Jasminka sat beside her and ate, Hannah and Barbara having a tired conversation and Diana flying neatly beside Amanda, getting in as much practice as possible.

"There ya are, slowpokes!" Amanda cheered as the red dorm approached, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. "Alright girls, get over here!" She shouted, falling backwards, effortlessly flipping and landing neatly.

Though no one had expected it, Amanda ended up being a teacher. She had taken both extensive flying lessons and broom dancing lessons in her past and she knew a lot of drills and exercises. Usually they would warm up with laps, go through a variety of technical exercises, do some fitness and end with a freestyle race that would often devolve into madness, which was everyone's favourite part.

"Honestly, rude enough of ya to make me wait for you, but then you show up late?" Amanda complained.

"Oh, shut up and get on with it," Hannah giggled, mounting her broom.

"Alright, alright," Amanda chuckled with mock offence. "Let's go." After everyone mounted their brooms and rose a few stories, they began their laps around the broom course.

Usually Amanda would be at the front with Diana, whose two dormmates were close behind. Sucy, who was confident on a broom, would be in the middle going at a leisurely pace. Next to her would be Lotte, struggling to keep up but trying her best to improve - Constanze and Jasmkina would be trundling along behind them, taking it as more of a leisure activity than an exercise - while Akko would be at the back.

Recently her broom riding skill had grown in leaps but she was still quite far behind Jasminka and Constanze as she occasionally had to stop and rebalance. Broom riding was a lot harder than it looked.

This time was different - Akko felt all of her muscles attuned to her brain, her senses sharp and her reflexes fast. She was completely in the moment as she breathed steadily and moved through the air like a dart, without wobbling or slowing down.

"What's wrong, Sucy?" Akko teased the Filipino witch as she shot past her at high speed. She looked over her shoulder and Sucy's face was contorted in surprise with a touch of frustration, causing her to laugh out loud. Lotte was amazed and when they met eyes, Lotte nodded at her as if to congratulate her.

Akko felt herself still slowly accelerating, a proud grin on her face as she slowly closed the distance between Hannah and Barbara.

"A-Akko!?" Hannah hissed in surprise, prompting Barbara to also look over her shoulder. Akko didn't respond, suddenly taken over by the will to get as far forward as she could. She didn't know what was happening but she loved it - the feeling of the wind against her body, but more importantly the feeling of overtaking everyone else. Hannah and Barbara increased their pace until they were clearly exerting themselves, gaining on the two leaders. Soon, all five witches were almost together until Diana noticed Akko among them.

"Akko?" She laughed. "What on Earth?"

"The hell did you eat for breakfast?" Amanda quipped, dexterously making her way beside the brunette, Diana on the other.

"I don't know, but you're about to eat my dust!" She shouted back. It was a lame quip but she didn't care. She couldn't believe it. She was pulling ahead - and just for a moment, she was right at the front.

Amanda was at a loss for words before shaking her head, suddenly bolting forwards and taking the lead. Diana and Barbara stared, mesmerised as Amanda and Akko sped up more and more, prompting the whole group to up their pace.

Lotte was sweating, clutching her broom hard before a sudden gust of wind knocked her slightly off balance - and at her speed, she had no hope of recovering, tilting too far to one side and spiralling out of control and losing her grip on her broom.

Before Sucy could respond, who wasn't far ahead of her, Akko had pulled an extremely sharp 180 and shot back past Diana and her dormmates, straight past Sucy, and caught Lotte.

Everyone stared in an odd silence as Lotte trembled with wide eyes, trying to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" Akko asked. Strangely, Lotte felt really light.

"Y-yeah, sorry," she stammered, clutching onto Akko's arm as the brunette slowly landed next to Lotte's broom.

Everyone else landed as Lotte dusted herself off and recovered, eyeing Akko.

"Okay Akko, what's your secret?" Amanda asked.

"Eh?"

"How the hell did you improve so fast?"

"I don't know," Akko frowned. "I just... I just felt really engaged with my broom today."

"Are you sure Sucy didn't test a potion while you were asleep or something?"

Akko turned to look at Sucy, who shook her head.

Amanda huffed, disappointed.

"Hey, Lotte, you sure you're okay?" Sucy whispered, catching the Ginger witch as she awkwardly staggered forward. Lotte paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"That was just scary," she said slowly, traces of tears in her eyes. "I, eh... I'm a bit shaken."

"Maybe you should rest now," Sucy suggested, sighing.

Everyone was exhausted and, hearing their conversation, Amanda cleared her throat.

"Maybe we should call this session for now. Training after the party might not have been such a good idea."

Hannah and Barbara nodded, still weirded out by being overtaken by Akko. Eventually the crowd dissipated, leaving just Akko and Diana's dorm. As Akko began to make her way to the canteen, feeling suddenly hungry, she was surprised as Hannah and Barbara fell in step with her.

"What actually happened?" Hannah asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on," Barbara sighed. "You must have done something to get that good."

"Seriously, I have no idea," Akko laughed nervously.

Barbara and Hannah met eyes and grinned before leaning in close to Akko.

"What happened yesterday evening with you and Diana?" Barbara asked.

"Did you kiss?" Hannah asked.

"W-WHAT?!" Akko stuttered, suddenly turning to face them, her face bright red. She was completely taken aback by her question - it was just so strange and off-putting that it really surprised her.

"Don't deny it, you did, didn't you?" They whispered.

"N-no! Why would we do that!?" Akko stammered, shaking her head. Behind them, Diana raised an eyebrow and increased her pace to get closer to the conversation. Barbara and Hannah frowned.

"Maybe we asked too soon," Barbara muttered.

"Stupid dense Akko," Hannah mumbled. The two of them turned suddenly down the corridor and disappeared together just as Diana caught up.

"What was that about? I know I keep asking but are you sure you're okay?" The blonde began.

"E-eh," Akko took a deep breath. "They just wanted to know how I was so fast but I swear, I have no idea."

"You don't seem to have any enchantments on you," Diana hummed, staring at Akko with her wand in her hand. "Hey, are you sunburnt?"

"A little," Akko responded after a short pause.

"Do you not use lotion? You have quite pale skin."

"Yeah, I know," Akko complained. "But sunburn is never a problem for me."

"Perhaps, but it definitely looks like it's caused a problem."

"Eh?"

"Your arms and legs have gone a little bit red," Diana sighed. "Make sure you apply lotion before you spend so much time outside, okay?"

"But..." Akko frowned, but she couldn't complain as Diana rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a split second too long and it became awkward before the blonde quickly cleared her throat, turning to leave.

"I'll be in the library."


	3. Chapter 3

Akko was returning to her dorm. After her conversation with Diana, she remembered how hungry she was and headed to the canteen for an early lunch, and ended up eating a lot. After a year in witch school, she was used to getting weird stares but it wasn't her fault it took so much food to sate her sudden hunger.

Once again feeling bloated, she walked lazily along the West dorm corridor towards her room, pausing outside Amanda's door as she heard the sound of muffled voices coming from inside.

She narrowed her eyes as, when she focused, those muffled sounds became clear, distinct voices. They were talking about the upcoming dance. Amanda was excitedly explaining she had someone in mind she wanted to dance with when she jumped off Jasminka’s bunk. She would be dancing with a suit. Jasminka was saying she was interested in attending, and Constanze had taken after Croix in her experiments in Noir Fuel Spirit, deciding the dance would be a good time to try out some of her new devices. Jasminka bit into a chip.

While ordinarily Akko would have burst through the door to pry for more details (especially from Amanda), she was increasingly on edge from what was happening. She heard each of their words as if they were stood right next to her.

And she had never got sunburn before.

"Akko!" Lotte smiled widely as Akko pushed open their door.

"Hey," she answered meekly.

"You were amazing on the broom track today! It totally blew my mind!" The Finish witch said, holding her fists in front of her chest in excitement as she faced Akko. She was sat on Sucy's bed, Sucy sat beside her.

"Thanks. Are you doing okay after this morning?" She asked warily, sitting on her bed.

"I'm fine-"

"She's still shaken," Sucy sighed. Akko raised an eyebrow. "I'm taking care of her. I'm not experienced with potions that calm people's nerves but I'm trying to help her relax right now."

"Are you sure it's not an opportunity to do more experiments?" Akko asked cautiously. Sucy chuckled.

"Not this time."

Akko sat down on the bed, suddenly noticing one thing - she was hungry again. She furrowed her brow in frustration, shaking her head and deciding to make that library trip to see if she could figure out what was happening to her.

"Something on your mind?" Lotte asked as Akko stood up.

"Just restless," she excused herself, quickly leaving the room. She remembered catching Lotte, like if she hadn't reacted quickly enough, the girl could have actually died. She shook her head, trying to think of something else as her brain spun at a thousand miles per hour.

The many voices from students talking quietly among themselves down the hallways? It was like when she was at the party again. Suddenly everyone's voices were loud in her ears so she increased her pace to the library, feeling relief instead of dread as its enormous doors loomed ahead of her.

"Akko?"

Akko came back into reality as she heard her name. Having pushed the doors open, Diana was in the far left corner, leaning against the wall with a small book in her hands.

"Hey," Akko said quietly as she stepped in and closed the door, noticing that it was almost completely empty.

"Did Finnelan send you in here to clean up again?"

"No, I can come to the library of my own free will too," Akko huffed, marching into the centre of the room. Only then did she realise that she'd actually have to find the relevant books.

Diana giggled quietly as Akko paused and stared at the bookshelves.

"Do you need a hand finding something?"

The two met eyes again. Often comments like that would be condescending for Akko, but she could tell the British witch didn't mean a hint of malice in her question. Still, she didn't want to concern Diana with her problem when she didn't know a thing about it.

"No thanks." Akko scanned the titles of the bookshelves. Summoning, astronomy, magical linguistics, alchemy... Nothing struck her eye until she found "Magical afflictions". She grabbed a chair and sat in front of the shelf, leaning forwards aggressively as she skim-read the book titles.

A'moure's silence, Blacksickness, Conjuritis, Hówryanka, Immaterialism, Kebiella's Amnesia, Morganflame... Maybe she was better off looking up the symptoms instead. But how the hell was she supposed to do that in a library? She had no idea how Diana got along so well with libraries.

She glanced at Diana, considering asking for help. Diana was reading her book again, now sat down. The sunlight was filtering through the tall windows, perfectly illuminating the blonde witch - her hair was practically sparkling as she tucked a strand behind her ear, sighing softly and turning the page.

Akko's eyes travelled slowly down from her face to her lithe neck - with smooth, pale and delicate skin suddenly alluring as Diana tilted her head slightly to the side, almost presenting it. It would be pleasantly cool to the touch compared to the warm ambience-

Akko shook her head. What was she thinking?

Then her eyes widened. Something clicked in her head. Horror struck her as she staggered back, stifling her gasp but overcome with dread.

Enhanced senses. Hunger. Nocturnalism. Aversion to sunlight. Now staring at someone's neck?

Akko didn't want to believe it, but she already knew what it was. Unaware of Diana cautiously watching her, Akko ran her finger gently across her upper row of teeth, confirming her fear. There were two very subtle fangs forming.

Her chest tightened, her throat constricting.

"No..." She whispered, shaking her head. It was hard to breathe.

Somehow, she had contracted vampirism.

Diana watched Akko as she had what looked like a panic attack. Before she even had the chance to stand, Akko turned on her heels and power walked out of the library.

  
  
  
  


Akko sprinted down the corridor, tears stinging at her cheeks. Her lungs felt like fire and she struggled to breathe properly. She shook her head, ignoring the glances from concerned students around the hallway, not noticing Ursula’s concerned call.

She was panicking. Taking the first door that would lead her away from prying eyes, she ended up in a dark storage cupboard under the stairs, throwing her body against the door and holding it shut. Despite the pitch black, she could easily make out the shape of the walls, the shelves, the cleaning utensils, the cracks in the walls and even the pattern on the floor. That fact only served to worsen her panicking as even in the smallest everyday things, she was reminded of what was happening to her.

She screwed her eyes shut and sunk down against the door behind her, subconsciously running her fingers across her teeth again with some phantom hope that they would be normal again, only to feel a sharp sting as a few thin drops of blood fell from her finger. She curled up tight as if to hide from the mocking world, burying her head in her elbow as her body trembled.

How had this happened? How could she have possibly become a vampire? She thought back. She couldn't remember being bitten by a vampire. But what if an animal had been infected? What if she had been bitten by a vampire fly in her sleep? The thought was terrifying. She had no idea what to do, or even think. This was totally different to any other problem that had presented itself in the past - where Akko and friends would go on their merry way and defeat the bad guy - this was an affliction. Akko stared at her own hands, half expecting them to look different. There was a vampire in Luna Nova, and that was her. Akko was the problem.

It explained all her random headaches and lightheadedness as well. In all the stories, Vampires weren't always ill or weak, they were hunters of the night with increased magical power - which at least explained what had happened with the brooms earlier that day. 

One part of that stereotype was correct - Vampires were predatory. Would she end up hurting someone she loved? The symptoms, while subtle, had slowly manifested from nothing to what they were at the moment. If that meant they were going to increase, then to what extent? Could she become reliant on blood? If she grew up as a vampire, could she even live normally at all? Would she be able to laugh with her friends without the heavy burden in her heart telling her they weren't safe around her? Would the symptoms continue to get worse until there was nothing left of her but a husk?

She wanted to know more. She wanted a sense of security and despite Ursula coming to mind, she wanted to tell Diana.

She desperately, desperately had to tell Diana. To meet the blonde's beautiful eyes and have the taller girl hold her, and tell her it was going to be okay. She could almost hear Diana's soothing voice telling her she knew how to fix it. Somehow the company of the British witch was just totally different to her than that of anyone else - Akko often thought about Diana when her mind wandered, and cared deeply for what the blonde thought about her.

And that was exactly why she couldn’t tell Diana, or anyone else. Vampirism was serious. What if Diana hated her for it? Maybe Diana wouldn't go near her, and maybe she would be right. The last thing Akko wanted was to hurt Diana.

Besides, she couldn't make someone she cared so deeply for worry about her. It just wouldn't be fair. She didn't want Diana to be something she used to get her out of situations like this, or a magical memory bank. She treasured their relationship more deeply than she sometimes realised.

"Akko?" Came a soft voice with a gentle knocking on the wooden panel behind her. Her eyes widened, broken out of her thoughts.

"D-Dia-" Akko stammered before quickly covering her mouth with her hands. She wasn't sure she could ever be, but she was slightly disappointed to hear the kind and wise voice of Ursula.

There was a short silence.

"Akko, can you open the door?"

Akko shook herself back to reality. She was so stupid. Already someone was going to find out because she'd been so careless. Her hesitation obviously didn't help as Ursula's voice grew slightly more serious, the wavering of her nervous uncertainty evident in her tone.

"Akko. Please."

Another short silence.

Akko adjusted her position, slowly opening the door and squinting at the light re-entering her eyes. It was clear she'd been crying.

"Hey, Akko. Talk to me," Ursula offered quietly, kneeling down to level her eyes with Akko's.

The two met eyes. Ursula noticed the dampness around Akko's, moving a hand to gently wipe away a tear.

"I... It's..." Akko stammered. Ursula's words were enticing - the professor had taken on something of a maternal role for Akko recently and the Japanese girl always found comfort in her kind eyes. "It's personal." She couldn’t meet them, facing the ground guiltily instead. "I-I mean, it's... Family," she stammered.

Something was stopping her from being honest. Some basic, deep level of terror. Some strange paranoia eating at the edges of her mind left Akko to awkwardly wait for Ursula's reply.

"Akko, you can tell me anything."

"Ursula, please!" She was surprised when Ursula continued pushing, but more surprised at her outburst. The professor clearly shared that as she recoiled slightly. "S-sorry-"

"No, it's fine," Ursula shook her head. "I should have been more considerate. Just please let me know if I can help, okay Akko?"

"Okay," she answered quietly.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Akko," Ursula said as she stood up, a flash of hesitation behind her eyes. "...Best of luck to you," she said after a short pause.

"Thank you, professor," Akko mumbled, the senior witch slowly making her exit. She stood up, taking a deep breath and dusting herself off. "Okay," she whispered. "Vampire. Just stay calm. I can deal with this.”

  
  
  
  


Akko was concerned that she had caused a scene. Well, she obviously had and people were used to that, but more so than usual. Now Diana and Ursula would both be suspicious of her.

After straightening herself out a bit, she quickly made her way to the bathrooms to check the mirror - the fangs were barely visible when she opened her mouth wide and looked closely, so no one would notice them. There were no outward signs, and she felt briefly contented that there was nothing noticeable about it.

As far as she could tell, she could continue to live normally. She knew Ursula respected her boundaries enough to leave her alone unless approached, which left just Diana to worry about. Akko had never imagined that Diana would be a threat to her, as opposed to the beacon of comfort that she usually was under just about any circumstance, but things would be fine if she just acted natural.

And it worked perfectly well - she returned to her dorm room and waved to her dormmates, commenting that she was feeling better now and sat down in her bed, earning their trust with surprising ease.

Indulging in her usual free time activities like reading up on manga, her Vampirism completely slipped her mind. The deathly sinking feeling had disappeared as she went about her day, and didn't bother her for the rest of the weekend.

Akko woke up drearily on Monday morning and continued her normal school routine. Over the course of the next week, everything was fine aside from the occasional nervous glances from Diana which reminded her of her discovery in the library. She barely noticed that she herself had taken to staring at the blonde witch quite a lot. There was a mixture of longing and concern in her stares, though whenever her eyes drifted to her neck she would tear them away.

It was Friday evening when Akko spotted something odd out of the corner of her eye. She had, once again, stayed in the canteen later than her friends due to her increasing hunger - fortunately it didn't draw much attention to her as it wasn't something terribly out of the ordinary.

Turning around, she saw Hannah and Barbara approaching, coming to a stop either side of her. They seemed hesitant and troubled, looking each other in the eyes before looking back at Akko.

"Y...you two okay?" Akko asked nervously.

"We need to talk to you... It's..." Hannah stumbled through her words.

"About Diana," Barbara finished for her, nodding at Hannah.

"What's going on?" Akko asked nervously. Her worst fear, that her actions as of late would have a negative influence on Diana, suddenly crept up in her mind. What if Diana was so worried about her it had impacted her studies?

Akko shook her head. A presumption like that sounded egotistical.

"Look..." Barbara mumbled, fiddling her with her hands. Normally Akko would enjoy the scene but her concern prevented this.

"Diana's been acting strange," Hannah said. "And... She won't admit it but..."

"She wants to spend more time with you," Barbara continued.

"Eh?" Akko's eyes widened.

"She wants to... take you out someplace," Hannah finally admitted. "L-look, don't tell her we said this, okay?" She quickly added. "She hasn't told us or anything, it's just really obvious."

"O-okay?"

"So can you just save her the awkwardness and ask her yourself?" Barbara asked quickly.

Akko smiled. Clearly Diana hadn't told Hannah and Barbara about her worries for Akko, so this wasn't about that. Maybe this could just be a nice time hanging out.

"Well sure, why didn't you just say so?" Akko asked innocently.

Hannah and Barbara met eyes. While they had previously been more than happy to poke fun at Akko about the time she spent with Diana, they hadn't imagined that they would have to ask her something like this.

"Hmm, but when to ask?" Akko pondered aloud. "I mean, if I ask her out to go somewhere, she could misinterpret me and think I was asking her out on a date!" She chuckled.

Hannah and Barbara facepalmed.

"A-anyway, that was all," Barbara said as the two turned around.

"Yeah, like, see you later," Hannah called out before they left the room.

"I guess tomorrow is as good a time as any," Akko nodded to herself. "Alright!" She stood up, realising that she was alone in the canteen and the sun had fallen.

Akko had been in the canteen a few times late at night during her time at Luna Nova, sneaking into the kitchens to steal a pop tart or a cake from time to time to alleviate the monotony of potatoes day after day. Despite this, she felt strangely alienated by the subtle moon rays shining through the windows with the last of the sun disappearing behind the horizon.

She sighed, rolling her shoulders backwards and relaxing as she glanced at the fields through a window. This was what she had been secretly longing for - to spend more time with Diana outside of school. She vividly remembered her brief stay in the Cavendish estate - she could never forget the depth and power of the emotions that had burnt through her body during that time, from the pain of seeing the weight on Diana's shoulders to the joy of the girl returning to Luna Nova.

Her obsession with bringing Diana back was something that not even she fully understood. It wasn't just typical Akko stubbornness in refusing to accept something she didn't like - and she knew that her "rivalry" with Diana wasn't what caused her to go to such lengths. It just seemed like somehow, the British witch had become a defining and integral part of her time in Luna Nova. Akko wasn't even anywhere near as close to her back then as she was at the moment.

"Yeah... Spending more time with her will be good," Akko hummed happily to herself as she walked up the canteen stairs and emerged into the second floor corridors. "But what should I wear... Casual dress or something a bit fancy?" She shook her head, laughing slightly. "What am I saying? I'm not dressing up fancy. Even though she... Might..." She paused, imagining it.

"Talking to yourself again?" Came a familiar voice.

"D-Diana!?" Akko spun around, suddenly flustered and surprised to be caught off guard.

"If it was anyone else, it might be strange," Diana smiled, emerging from a classroom with books in her arms, falling into step with Akko as they climbed up to the third floor to get to their respective dorms.

"H-yeah," Akko mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Say, Diana, do you wanna hang out sometime?" She asked brightly.

"S-sorry?" The blonde asked, tentatively facing Akko..

"I was just wondering if, y'know, we should spend some more time together? Outside of school?"

"I..."

"We could go to Blytonbury and find a nice café and have a chat! Or watch a movie and buy something ridiculous from a comic shop or something!"

Diana cleared her throat at Akko’s onslaught of positivity, regaining her composure.

"That sounds quite nice, actually. I'd love to take you up on that!"

"Alright! Wanna go tomorrow, since it's Saturday?"

"Ehm..." Diana pondered. "Yes, of course!" She finally said, pushing away any doubts. She had planned a study session but that could be moved. "Shall we meet at the Leyline? We'll bring our brooms."

"Right!" Akko gave her an energetic thumbs up.

"It's definitely better to see you acting more like yourself, Akko." Diana smiled.

"Nothing can put Atsuko Kagari down!" Akko shouted, punching the air and eliciting a laugh from the blonde witch.

"Alright, how about 11 am? We can get lunch somewhere," Diana said with some excitement.

"Sounds like a plan!" Akko shot back before realising that they had paused at the doors of the West dorms. Diana's dorm was on the other side of the building.

"Alright, I'll see you there then, Akko," Diana smiled softly and turned to leave.

"Not if I see you first!" Akko shouted, watching her go. She swore she could see a slight skip in the British witch's step. Something had really brought her mood up.

Content with the progress of the evening and her extremely lucky chance encounter, Akko made her way down to her room and entered.

As she entered her room, Lotte was lying on her bed with her crystal ball, messaging someone online again and Sucy glanced up tiredly from her work.

"What have you done?" She asked warily, noting Akko's wide smile.

"Nothing, I'm just going out with Diana tomorrow-"

"What?!" Lotte choked from her bunk, spinning around to stare at Akko with wide eyes.

"W-what?" Akko asked nervously.

"You two are going out?" Lotte asked, grinning more widely than Akko had ever seen before.

"W-wait, I- not like that!" Akko stammered, turning red. "I just meant I'm going out... with her... tomorrow. Y'know, just hanging out, we're going to Blytonbury!" For a moment she considered inviting the others, but something in the back of her mind stopped her. It was going to be just her and Diana.

Sucy turned back to her work as Lotte hummed in thought.

"Just the two of you?" The ginger witch asked.

"Yep!"

"Who asked who?" She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying 'out'.

"I..." Akko paused, once again stopping herself. She wasn't going to mention her conversation with Hannah and Barbara. "I asked her?" She hazarded.

"Oh my goood, I knew it~" Lotte hissed. "Let me know how your date goes, okay?" She asked, turning back to her crystal ball.

"H-hey, it's not a date!"

"What is it then?" Sucy suddenly asked, glancing up from her work with a slight grin.

"A... It's a friend date!"

"Akko..." Lotte shook her head in exasperation. "Then let me know how your friend date goes, alright?"

"Sure," Akko answered, flopping onto her bed.

It felt like Christmas eve - she was unable to focus on anything apart from the upcoming morning as she laid down in her bed. Misconceptions aside, she wanted to be at her absolute best in her friend date with Diana. She'd get up early, shower, dress casually but not too messily, do her hair just a tiny bit and be there at least ten minutes early, ready to go with her broom - wait - it was at 11 am. No need to get up early.

Whoa, she was getting really worked up about this.

Well in any case, sleeping a lot was integral to being at your best, so Akko quickly got changed and pulled the covers over herself, determined not to let her intermittent nocturnalism ruin her friend date.


	4. Chapter 4

"Rise and shine!" Akko shouted, unceremoniously shaking her duvet off her body and jumping into the air.

It was otherwise a peaceful morning - the sun was lower in the horizon than Akko was used to when waking up on the weekend, with the pleasant mist of morning dew only just fading. Akko was usually asleep long after the cockerels crowed so it felt almost alien as she heard the sound through the window, automatically yawning despite her masses of positive energy.

It was strange, considering Akko didn't even know that Luna Nova had cockerels.

Stretching her arms above her head, Akko was unsurprised to find Lotte silently reading a nightfall book - but while Sucy was usually at work with potions when Akko awoke, she was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Oh you're awake," she said quietly, turning to face Akko.

"Morning," Lotte said sleepily from above her bunk.

"Good morning!" Akko shouted back, throwing off her pyjamas and getting changed with vigour.

"You're certainly energetic," Lotte spoke in a half whisper, slowly rolling over to meet Akko's eye. Then she recoiled, her eyes wide as if she'd just realised something. "Right! Your friend date with Diana!"

"Uuhuh!" Akko nodded, washing her face before jumping back, startled. "I'm wearing my uniform!"

"Well spotted," Sucy smirked. "You tend to do that in school."

"Wait-l-Lotte! What do I wear?!" Akko shouted, spinning around. Lotte sprung up, suddenly engaged in their conversation.

"Clearly-" Lotte began, stopping herself before it became obvious that she was overthinking it. "Just... Diana likes you because you're Akko, and Akko is messy and... You know..." Akko frowned. "Just wear something casual," she said, wondering what Akko's casual clothes would look like. "Like... Shorts and a hoodie, or something."

"Yes, oh wise and mighty clothing adviser," Akko said as she bowed to the figure above her bunk bed, causing her to giggle.

"Bonus points if the hoodie is oversized," Lotte chuckled as she returned to her book. Akko nodded, frowning and returning to her wardrobe.

Minutes later, Akko had followed Lotte's advice to the letter and sat on the edge of her bed wearing a lavender hoodie that was clearly several sizes too large for her, staring aggressively at the clock and willing it to be eleven o'clock.

After some substantial nervous snacking in her room, Akko had had enough so she picked up her broom and made for the door.

"Details, okay Akko?"

"What?" Akko asked, turning to see Lotte grinning widely.

"Come back safe and give me all the details."

"R-right," Akko nodded, turning down the corridor.

Akko found Lotte's concern for her endearing and allowed herself a content smile before a group of first years turned the corner and smiled at her.

"Hey, Akko!" They said excitedly. "What's with the clothes?"

"I'm leaving school grounds and I'm just hoping not to run into Finnelan between here and the Leyline," Akko admitted.

"Right, well," they said quickly. "Who do you have your eye on for the dance?" Another one asked quickly. "It's all the gossip right now." Akko paused. "Like, Diana's obviously gonna dance with Andrew or something, but what about you?"

"You're probably right," Akko said gloomily. Diana had expressed her lack of interest for the dance but that didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't uphold her image and attend. The thought had put a damper on her mood. "But I haven't got my eyes on anyone right now. Sorry," Akko said, nodding to Amanda who walked past her.

"Boring! What about you, Amanda? Who are you gonna dance with?" They asked, unsatisfied with Akko's answer. When Amanda answered, Akko paused and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What if I told you I had my eye on someone at this school?" She asked teasingly, savouring the first years' excited reactions. Amanda looked a bit flustered but she was grinning like a fool as she took off down the corridor.

Akko had decided to uncharacteristically be 15 minutes early to the Leyline, and was unsurprised to find Diana already waiting there. She was wearing relatively casual clothing as well, much to Akko's surprise, wearing a light artic blue blouse and jeans. It was an odd thing to notice, but it seemed like there was no makeup at all, which was just one of the little things Akko appreciated about Diana. She had no need for it, anyway. Akko almost felt a pang of jealousy at her stunning beauty if it wasn't for her lightened spirits as the blonde flashed her a bright smile.

"Good morning, Akko. I certainly haven't seen this before," Diana chuckled, gesturing to Akko's apparel. Her hands and the bottom of her shorts were barely visible past the hoodie, but it was what Lotte had instructed.

"Y-yeah, it's not gonna be a problem is it?"

"No," Diana laughed. "It's ador - well, it's just a new look," she corrected herself, clearing her throat awkwardly.

"And I might say the same for yourself~" Akko grinned. "Rocking that casual Cavendish look! I didn't even know you could wear anything that didn't scream aristocracy!"

Diana smiled before gesturing to her broom.

"Ready to go?"

"I'm totally ready," Akko said to herself, unsure as to the cause of her nervousness. "Want me to give you a ride there? I'll show you how much I've improved!"

"I-" Diana froze, her cheeks slightly red.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Akko frowned.

"I-I assure you, I'm not unwell. I merely hadn't contemplated that proposition, ah, before," Diana stammered.

"What does that mean?" Akko deadpanned.

"It means I do want you to," Diana smiled, letting go of her broom and watching it fly back to her room on its own.

"Alright! All aboard the Kagari express! The safest, fastest, most effective and all-around coolest broom ride service ever!" Akko shouted, mounting her broom.

"We'll see," Diana smirked, climbing on behind her and holding onto her torso. “Shall I score you?"

"Pfft, if you can keep up! Tia Freyre!" Akko shouted, slowly taking off. It was the first time she'd ever given someone a lift on the broom but she knew she was easily good enough - and her ridiculous overconfidence was helping her relax.

Past the captivating glow of the Leyline, Blytonbury quickly came into view ahead of the two. Akko breathed gently and took in the cool air, increasingly aware of Diana's arms around her core.

"Say, you didn't plan anything for today, did you?" Akko asked.

"No, actually," Diana responded. "I thought it would be best if we avoided planning so to enjoy the moment and be more spontaneous. There's plenty to do in this town, you know."

"What? I must be rubbing off on you~" Akko grinned.

"Let's land just by the plaza," Diana suggested. Akko saw that her eyes were full of excitement - she was, like Akko, brimming with energy.

Akko gave Diana a showy bow after landing and stepping off the broom before the two set off into the central square to see what captured their interest.

"I daresay, I could in fact keep up with your broom ride service," Diana's slightly raised voice came over the crowd noise.

"Then no doubt you gave it the best scores," Akko laughed, causing Diana to join.

"That looks like a pleasant area just down there." Akko's eyes followed where the British witch was pointing, revealing a large park surrounded by trees, benches and decorated with fountains.

"Ah, perfect, there's a Subway next to it, it fulfils all the criteria," Akko joked, pretending to readjust her imaginary glasses.

"What, is that supposed to be me?" Diana raised an eyebrow.

"It's what nerds say," Akko casually answered as the two started walking towards the park. "You're not a nerd, you're just really clever."

"Thank you. And for the record, I'm not particularly adverse to - I wouldn't much mind getting fast food today."

"Hey, you learn something new every day! Shall we?" Akko asked, gesturing to the shop.

"Sure," Diana chuckled, following her in. "Though it might not be what the public expected to see," Diana said slightly more quietly, noting the strange glances she was receiving.

"What, are aristocrats not allowed in Subway?" Akko asked. Diana laughed.

Soon afterwards, the two were sat on one of the park benches eating sandwiches. There was a short, comfortable pause filled with the subtle splash of the fountains and children playing across the field and the nearby town centre.

"I hadn't imagined my day playing out like this," Diana eventually said.

"You don't have to go somewhere fancy to enjoy time with a friend," Akko responded.

"No, don't worry, this is miles better. I'm so glad you brought me out here. Otherwise I'd be-"

"Studying, yeah," Akko mumbled. "I swear you don't even need to study to ace your exams at this point?"

Diana chuckled.

"I'm not sure if that's completely true, though granted, there are many other things worth studying. Croix's magitech levitation devices, for instance."

"Isn't it hard getting your hands on one of her roombas?"

"Perhaps, though there is a very important difference between difficult and impossible." Akko frowned in confusion. "Also I may have one stashed away in my room."

"What!?" Akko stared in disbelief.

"W-well," Diana tried to explain herself.

"Diana Cavendish, you rule breaker! I can't believe this, you're lucky I don't have you thrown into the lions this instant!"

"Luna Nova doesn't have lions," Diana dismissed Akko's antics with her own. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if it did at some point."

"I ain't afraid of no lions," Akko eventually said.

"What?"

"Let the lions dance with me in mortal combat, I'll show them~"

"...Akko, what?"

"Sorry, I'm just saying what comes to mind," Akko said, leaning backwards and stretching her arms.

"Is that what it's like to be you?"

"Being me is great," Akko insisted. "Hey, Diana, did you know that Amanda said she's gonna go to the dance with someone else in our school?"

"Hm, interesting. I wonder if it's one of her dorm mates, though I find that highly unlikely," Diana pondered. "Can you keep a secret?"

"There is no better secret keeper," Akko said quickly, her hand on her chest.

"Well," Diana said quietly. "Hannah actually said something similar the other day. Though the subject embarrassed her greatly and all we can tell is that the person she has in mind is not me or Barbara."

"No way," Akko grinned. "I thought she had the hots for Andrew."

"Apparently not," Diana smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was Avery but, honestly, I can't begin to guess."

"I bet it's me," Akko joked.

"No," Diana simply responded. She paused awkwardly for a moment, hesitating.

Akko closed her eyes, listening to the birdsong.

Diana's expression hardened.

"Akko..." She tentatively began, her eyes cast down.

Instantly all the sirens in Akko's head began to blare. Bad news.

"What is it?"

"About that time in the library not long ago... If you don't mind me asking..." Akko's face fell. "What was that about?" Suddenly the cool wind seemed icy, the world outside their conversation unimportant and subtle. Akko began to nervously twitch. "It's just, I've never seen you like that, and I'm extremely concerned about your behaviour." They met eyes. "You can tell me anything, please know that."

Akko found no words through the growing lump in her throat and the ringing in her ears.

"I..."

"Please don't feel pressured," Diana said softly. "I just wish to offer assistance if there's any way I can."

"It-it's..." Akko began. She was a hair away from telling the truth, but some part of her was deeply terrified to do so, and her whole body shook at the thought, her tongue curling up in her mouth. "It's my dad," she lied, traces of real tears in her eyes. "I just got the news about him in the hospital. They say... he'll be okay but he's not looking good."

Diana's eyes widened. For all Akko could tell, she was convinced. The pain in Akko's voice was real. She never wanted to lie to Diana.

"I'm so sorry," Diana offered, leaning into Akko, who quickly accepted the hug. Akko held tightly onto Diana's warm torso, screwing up her face in an effort not to cry - Diana was comforting her, but for the wrong reason. Reminded of her vampirism, Akko was angry among her other emotions, angry at the vampirism for ruining her time with Diana. Afraid what will happen if she loses the ability to enjoy moments like this.

She held on tight, very conscious of Diana's arms around her, Diana’s hands against her sides, blonde hair tickling the back of her neck. Diana probably thought she could relate. Diana actually lost her mother at a young age. Akko felt ashamed to have said her father was in hospital.

"We've got each other," Diana said quietly. "You're tough, Akko, and I'm sure he is too. Things will work out." Akko's wet eyes met Diana's again. "I'm here for you," the blonde admitted. Akko nodded her head, hugging Diana again. "I'm sorry for bringing it up," Diana said at last. "I didn't mean to cause you-"

"It's alright, I appreciate you asking," Akko said shakily. "I-if there are any developments... Of the situation... I'll come to you, okay?"

"Okay," Diana said gently. Akko was aware of the other girl's fingers combing slowly through her hair, soothing her fiery nerves.

They stayed like that, content in their quietness, for longer than Akko could keep track of. Soon, wrapped up in the comfort of Diana, Akko fell asleep.

  
  
  
  


Waking up to the sound of rain on an umbrella isn't a common occurrence, though Akko had to admit it was quite nice. Slowly opening her eyes, she noted that she was outside, in a park - in Blytonbury. Right, she was out with Diana.

Where was Diana? Akko sighed slowly, rubbing her eyes before she noticed the warmth against her side. She and Diana were on a bench together - Akko was leaning on Diana, curled up against her chest with Diana's arm over her shoulder gently keeping her in place.

Akko froze awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

Diana didn't seem to notice, too engrossed in the book she was reading to realise Akko had woken up. Diana's arm that was over Akko's shoulders was holding the umbrella, keeping her dry.

Akko didn't want to move. She was tempted to fall back asleep, but she was worried that Diana would realise and think she was being weird. After a slight gust of wind, Diana briefly held Akko slightly closer to her and Akko felt herself turning red. What was this? Why did she suddenly have butterflies in her stomach?

Akko clenched her jaw, her gut churning with excitement and anxiety, her fingers fidgeting with each other.

Why was Diana even still here? Why was she putting up with Akko falling asleep on her and staying out in the rain, just to not wake her up?

"O-oh, Akko, you're awake!" She suddenly heard Diana's nervous voice, disappointed to find Diana quickly moving her arm off her shoulders and holding the umbrella between them. "S-sorry, I just wanted to..." She began, her cheeks red. "Are you feeling better now?" She asked after clearing her throat.

Akko stretched her arms above her head, reluctantly sitting up and breathing in the cool air. The sun was mostly obscured by clouds and the very humid air, so the uncomfortable tingle in her skin was gone.

"Yeah. I'm feeling really good, actually... I'm, ehm, sorry that I made you stay out here in the rain."

"That's quite alright, don't worry. You've been quite unsettled recently and I didn't want to take away your chance to get to sleep." She spoke gently, with a certain richness in her voice that somehow sounded like joy even when she was apologising.

Akko's heart was leaping out of its chest as Diana said that. She knew that she and Diana were close friends but she had never imagined doing something like this. Her long, wavy hair was damp and slightly straighter now, sticking to her shoulders. Her skin practically shone and Akko was taken aback again by her beauty.

"Akko?"

_Oh my God,_ Akko's eyes widened. _I have a crush on Diana._

"Akko, hello?"

_I have a huge crush on Diana._

"You haven't broken, have you?" Diana joked. "Did you have an off switch after all?"

"Y-yeah, no, sorry," Akko stammered, suddenly embarrassed and more worried than before that Diana would think it was weird that she fell asleep on her. "What's the time?"

"It's past three o'clock."

"What?!" Akko's mouth hung open. She must have been asleep for more than three hours.

"Don't worry Akko, I didn't mind," Diana said calmly. "I was catching up on some reading. It was quite relaxing."

"R-right..." Akko mumbled, bright red and facing the floor.

"Shall we return to school?"

"Y-yeah." The word came out of Akko's mouth by instinct, even though she would be more than happy to stay here for a while longer. "It's, ehm... It's been really nice, Diana!" She said as they stood up.

"For the parts you were awake during, perhaps," Diana smirked. Akko pouted, facing the other way. "Am I really that boring?"

"W-no!" Akko spluttered. "I love spending time with you, you're the most interesting person-"

"It's okay, I was just teasing," Diana grinned. "Thought I'd give that a try."

The two walked in silence back towards the Leyline with a strange air of awkwardness that hadn't been around them before. Akko, now giddy with anticipation and joy as she and Diana walked side by side, was too busy panicking about their proximity to fill the scene with conversation and energy. Her mind was racing, thinking about little things like the subtle elegance of Diana's gait, how good she looked with wet hair, how the blouse showed off slightly more of her shoulders than she was used to seeing and the shape of her thighs through the jeans. Akko shook her head, tearing her eyes away for fear of being creepy.

"Shall I fly us back this time?" Diana offered as they approached the Leyline, and Akko, whose brain was turning into mush as over a year of romantic feelings caught up with her, merely nodded.

The flight was quiet and seemed to pass quickly and, before she knew it, Akko was parting with Diana. She realised she had to say something or Diana might not realise just how much she enjoyed it and another opportunity like that might not come.

"T-thanks for going out w-coming out with-being with me-" Akko stuttered before swallowing hard and trying again. "Thanks for today. It was the nicest trip I've had in years."

"In years?" Diana raised an eyebrow.

"I-I dunno, it was just really relaxing! I-I mean-"

"Hey, relax," Diana said gently. "I... I quite enjoyed it myself," she responded slowly. "No, I really enjoyed it," she said as a smile crept onto her face.

"Can we go again? Some time?" Akko quickly asked. Diana paused.

"I'm rather busy over the next few weeks." Akko's heart fell. "But I'll see if I can get a free slot," Diana grinned. "And, about your father... I'm terribly sorry. I hope for the best," she offered. Despite her good intentions, all Akko felt was guilt for her lie. "And I'm here for you if you need... me." Diana trailed off awkwardly, frowning. "Some company, or comfort."

"Yeah. Thanks. Diana." Akko couldn't look up.

"Well, I'll see you later then," Diana excused herself, giving a curt nod before disappearing down the corridor.

_Oh my God, I lied to her. I had the perfect chance to tell her!_ Akko mentally scolded herself, pacing down the corridor to her room. _And oh my God, she's so pretty._ Akko paused again, recalling the image of Diana in casual clothes and instantly feeling the freshness of the air from a short while ago.

Akko shook her head, resuming her power walk towards her room and almost walking past the staircase. Again she was in a strange, perturbed state of mind and didn't even respond when Amanda greeted her outside her room.

"Akko!" Lotte greeted her quietly as she stepped into her dorm. It seemed like Sucy was asleep. "Yeah, I was surprised too," Lotte grinned, following Akko's confused eyes. "She's been trying to help Croix with a cure for Wagandea. I never expected that, but she's been up late a lot and I guess it's taken its toll."

"Didn't Croix go to jail?" Akko mumbled, closing the door and rubbing her eyes.

"Well, kind of. She's at a correctional facility, but they're letting her continue her research there. She and Sucy sometimes do voice calls. But enough about that!" Lotte said, a fire suddenly appearing in her eyes. "Tell me how your friend date went!"

Akko flushed and cast her eyes down. Now she felt like a fool for ignorantly insisting it was 'friend date', neither fully understanding the implications of what her dorm mates were saying nor recognising its truth. Lotte and Sucy were teasing her about her crush on Diana before she realised she had one.

"Oh no - did something go wrong?" Lotte asked, eyes wide, noticing Akko's discomfort.

"Well, about that..." Akko mumbled, raising her head to meet Lotte's eye. "I..." She paused, checking that Sucy was really asleep. "C-can I come up and talk about it?"

"Of course," Lotte said quickly, sitting up and shifting away from her ladder and holding her breath.

"Well..." Akko began, moving to sit cross-legged opposite Lotte. "I..." She croaked as Lotte's eyes silently pleaded. "I... Kinda ended up falling asleep-"

"Eh? In the middle of your da-"

"Y-yeah, well, I didn't mean to! I mean, we were in a park, talking about... Something personal... and it was sad and we hugged, and the next thing I knew it was raining but we were still there and Diana was reading a book and holding an umbrella over me and I was leaning on her and it was three hours later!"

"T-three hours?"

"I know?! How did I manage that?"

"Maybe Diana cast a spell," Lotte mused, her eyes turning dreamy. "And what happened next?"

"W-well, I apologised a lot, and she said she didn't mind... And we came back here and agreed to do it again soon-"

"Yess! Score!" Lotte quietly cheered, holding out her hand for a high five, which Akko confusedly gave her. "And did you enjoy it?"

"Yes! It was so nice just to hang out with Diana, and talk to Diana, and eat with Diana and hug Diana and... Fall asleep..." Akko's rambling ground to a halt as her blush slowly grew. Lotte waited. "L-Lotte, I-" Akko tried to begin but froze. She had never been this nervous admitting something before.

"What is it, Akko?" Lotte asked in a barely audible voice.

"It's... I mean, there was just something special... I mean, Diana, and we..." Akko mumbled, trailing off. Lotte had never seen her so embarrassed.

"Did she look good?" Lotte asked.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how well she rocks casual clothes! And when she gets rained on, do you know what she looks like with wet hair?"

"And do you enjoy her company more than anyone else's in the world?"

Akko paused, opening her mouth to speak then closing it.

"Y-you're trying to help me realise, aren't you," Akko said quietly.

"Realise what?" Lotte asked slyly.

"That I - That I..."

"That you," Lotte began slowly. "You have a cr-"

"I have a crush," Akko forced the word out before Lotte. "I have... a crush. On Diana."

A weight was lifted off Akko. Something small and imperceivable at the back of her mind, but a weight all the same. It felt slightly risqué to say out loud, and exciting too, and Akko couldn't help but grin like a fool as her stomach started whirling again.

"I have a crush on Diana."

"Yes, you do," Lotte said triumphantly, leaning back and allowing herself a contented sigh.

"Excuse me, yes I do? What's that supposed to mean?" Akko complained.

"I'm so happy for you, Akko," Lotte smiled, giving her friend a moment of self-satisfaction. "But you know you have to tell her, not me."

Akko sighed, flopping back against the bed and grinning like a fool, shaking her head.

"I dunno, Lotte. Maybe she'll just figure it out."

"Nu-uh! You gotta tell her! Either you confess or you don't!" Lotte insisted, her voice just a little bit louder.

"But Lotte," Akko whined. "How is she gonna respond when I come out of nowhere like, hey, I know you're the Cavendish heir and all but I'm gay for you so-"

"No, Status doesn't matter," Lotte shook her head. "She may be the Cavendish heir but you know her as Diana and she knows you as Akko." Akko sighed again. "What are the things you like about her?" Lotte asked.

Akko looked up at her, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"How long will you listen for?" She asked. Lotte chuckled.

"Tell me some of the little things."

Akko closed her eyes, picturing Diana and smiling.

"I like that no matter how much she has going on in her life she'll always do little things to help people out," Akko began. "Like when she saw this enchanted hair tie and bought it for me," she smiled, poking it. "I like the fact that she's not really used to the same kind of culture we are so sometimes she does awkward little things and doesn't understand basic things and it's adorable. I love the little face she makes when she's surprised because she's never really surprised," Akko chuckled. "And I love her English accent."

"You've really thought about this, huh Akko," Lotte leaned against the wall happily.

"No? I'm just speaking off the top of my head." Lotte paused, turning to face Akko.

"Wow, you've really got it bad.”

"Y-..." Akko opened her mouth, but paused and swallowed again as she felt an unpleasant tingle on her skin, reminding her that she'd been out in the sun for hours and she needed to use lotion now.

"Did she say your clothes looked ridiculous?" Lotte asked.

"She was thrown off a bit, I think," Akko awkwardly answered. "I think she was going to say it's adorable but she stopped herself."

"Nice," Lotte nodded.

"Thanks for the tip," Akko chuckled. "Gotta get back into my uniform though," she mumbled, climbing back down the ladder of Lotte's bunk.

"Akko, don't hesitate to come to me about Diana if you ever want to talk about it," she said gleefully. Akko sighed in embarrassment. "And please keep me updated!"

"Yeah, I will."


	5. Chapter 5

Diana was sat in Lukić's potions classroom. She had deliberately found a large slot of time where it would be completely empty, which was surprisingly rare, in order to do some important work.

She had a suspicion that something was wrong with Akko aside from her family matters. So, while Akko had fallen asleep on her earlier that day, Diana had cut off a tiny piece of her hair. It was too small for anyone to notice the difference, but she still felt guilty about it. It wasn't the kind of thing she would do, especially not without at least telling them afterwards. But it was potentially for her own good, and for good reason.

The potions classroom felt both cuttingly cold and dangerous as it loomed, as dimly lit as ever, around her. The arrays of organs from dead animals and vials of blood suddenly seemed a lot more sickening than they ever did, their musk hanging in the air as Diana worked her way to the back corner of the classroom as if to avoid prying eyes.

Diana's skill in alchemy was not bad but it certainly wasn't her expertise. Unless it was a healing potion, for which Diana was one of the world's leading experts, her skills were merely above average. Sucy definitely had her beaten in poisons and most other aspects of potions, but she could never turn to Sucy for help regarding this matter - nor Lukić nor anyone else.

This was one of the more complicated potions Diana had made. Scaly pholiota, millipede chitin, moss that grew under moonlight and various other ingredients that she had covertly collected over the last few days as well as the most important one - the tiny scrap of Akko's hair that Diana carefully took out of the satchel in her inner pocket, lining the ingredients in front of her.

This potion would reveal any external magical effects taking place or any physical ailments that Akko had.

It wasn't late in the afternoon but by the time she was done with meticulously crafting her potion, the whole time hoping that her preparations were correct and nobody entered the room, the sun was touching the horizon. Diana sighed in exhaustion, watching as her potion coalesced into a thin grey liquid at the bottom of the vial, barely distinguishable from water.

With the manuscript bearing inscriptions of the spell laid out in front of her, Diana lifted up the potion and carefully eyed it for the signs that it had formed correctly - a subtle purple shimmer at the top was the telltale sign. After sighing in relief, she slowly lifted up the potion and poured its contents over the paper.

Nothing happened.

For an agonising few seconds, dead silence echoed deafeningly inside Diana's head, before inky swirls began to form on the paper - at first subtle and formless, but soon forming into letters. Diana recognised them as characters from the Luna alphabet - which she was fortunately fluent in - before they finally formed a short sentence.

Holding her breath, Diana read what had appeared on the paper.

  
  
  
  


Akko was playing snooker with Amanda in the club room when a chill suddenly went down her spine. With Constanze and Jasminka at the other table and Lotte writing something at another table, Akko's eyes suddenly darted up to the door. Her gut was filled with a deep sinking feeling.

"Yo Akko, you good?" She heard Amanda's voice.

The door opened. Behind it stood Diana with her serious face on - which usually meant she was hiding her emotions but her uniform was messy, her face slightly sharp, and her hands were tense. At a glance, she looked fine, but something inside Akko screamed that this was serious.

They instantly met eyes and Diana walked into the room, pausing silently in front of Akko with a heavy air of tension between them, no teasing remark from Amanda.

"A..." Diana managed, pausing before clearing her throat, taking a breath and trying. "Akko. Please could I talk to you in private?"

"Sure..." Akko answered with some hesitation. "I, ehm, sorry Amanda," she offered, noting Diana turning to leave and disappearing through the door before power walking after her. By now the sky was quite dark and a chilly wind had picked up, and everyone had gone back inside.

Despite this, Akko followed Diana closely through the corridor and outside, coming to a stop on the grass, just past the pathway some distance from the main building.

Akko stared with terror as Diana stood in front of her, facing away from her and curling and uncurling her hands. It was quite unnerving - her mind jumped to a hundred assumptions, but she knew which one was right.

"Akko, you've..." Diana said loudly and quickly but stopping abruptly, fighting for the right words. "You have an affliction."

Akko froze, rooted to the spot. Diana had figured it out.

"W-what do-"

"Don't! Don't do this, you know exactly what it is!" Diana hissed, her whole body tense.

"Diana..." Akko said hopelessly.

"Akko, you know what it is," Diana repeated. "Don't you?" She asked in a slightly softer tone. With Diana's expectant eyes on her, Akko could only nod.

"You've contracted Vampirism." When it was said so bluntly like that, it sent another chill down her spine - Akko felt sick. It certainly didn't help that Diana had to be the one saying it to her. Akko nodded again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Diana finally broke down, turning around with eyes full of tears. "You can tell me everything, Akko! Who in the world do we trust more than each other?" Akko was silent. She couldn't speak through the lump in her throat. It hurt to realise the result of her silence on Diana. "Did you think it would scare me and I would avoid you?" Akko watched, petrified, as Diana sunk to her knees. "I've never wanted to be near you more in my life. I would go to the moon and back to help you," she said sadly, much more quietly.

"Diana-"

"I didn't want you to suffer alone through this... I wanted to be there for you..." She continued, letting out a sob.

"H-hey," Akko stumbled forwards, kneeling in front of Diana.

"I'm hurt, Akko, and I know you're not the culprit," Diana said, slightly more calm. "You're the victim, and I just wanted to be involved with you. I was so shocked when I realised, I... I didn't want to imagine what you were going through. I couldn't." Diana moved her hands up to her face to clear it of any stray tears.

"Diana it's not that bad," Akko finally said, softly taking a hold of her wrists and meeting her eyes. "Don't panic about it, I'm fine. It's not-"

"Not that bad?" Diana hissed. "And what if the symptoms get worse? Would you keep me in the dark?" She continued, her energy building again. "Who else could possibly have a better chance of helping?"

Akko was lost for words. At the moment, she was more unnerved by Diana's lack of composure than her own problem.

"I'm sorry," she admitted, leaning forwards and hugging Diana, letting out a quick noise of surprise as Diana wrapped her arms around her. "I... You're exactly right... I was worried that you'd distance yourself from me, or that it would put too my stress on you-"

"Don't think about me," Diana insisted, shaking her head against Akko's shoulder. "You may have come to terms with this, but... But if you have, it's more serious than you think. Oh, what am I saying? This isn't what... what..."

"Things will turn out okay," Akko affirmed slowly. "They always do."

There was another gust of wind that Akko barely felt, though she noticed as Diana's shivering increased - automatically she held the other girl slightly closer.

"Come. We're discussing this in my dorm," Diana insisted, slowly standing up and brushing herself off.

  
  
  
  


"How long ago did you realise?" Diana asked, setting up her crystal ball on her main study desk in her dorm. Fortunately, Hannah and Barbara were busy at the moment so the two were left alone. Akko had only ever been in Diana's dorm a few times, and only briefly, but the novelty and excitement of standing in her crush's room was overwhelmed by her anxious nerves. At the same time, Akko was hopeful - Diana had a point - she was possibly the best person to help Akko and now she was doing so.

"Not long ago. It was in the library. I was... I kept catching myself staring at... Your neck... So I felt my teeth and felt the fangs forming there."

"Let me see," Diana instructed, standing close to Akko.

Casting her eyes down in embarrassment, Akko opened her mouth wide and waited as Diana thinned her eyes, reaching forward to gently stroke her finger across one of the fangs. Akko twitched, images flashing across her eyes of biting down - she fought the thought out of her mind.

"What other side effects have you felt?"

"Ehm... Well my vision and hearing were suddenly much more keen. And sometimes I struggle to get to sleep. And I'm always really hungry..." Akko babbled nervously. Diana nodded, writing it down in her little notebook.

"I want you to know that Vampirism is not a trivial matter - unless the perfect conditions are met, it is very unlikely to be cured,” Diana stated, her cold intimidating business mode taking over.

Akko's skin prickled.

"W-what?"

"That's why you should ha... Why it would have been best if I'd known as soon as possible," she corrected herself. Akko was silent. "I propose we inform staff-"

"No! Diana, there would be-"

"I mean just some. The ones we trust." Diana paused. "Ursula."

Akko grimaced, recalling when the teacher had tried to comfort her but she had pushed her away, refusing to explain. If they told Ursula she would see their encounter in a totally new light.

"Maybe Croix too. I know she's working on the cure for Wagandea at the moment but she's certainly in a good position to offer some insight."

"I'm sorry," Akko mumbled again. "I didn't want this to weigh down on you." Diana paused, turning away from her crystal ball.

"Akko, thank you for accepting my help. I know it was a hard choice for you and you tried to protect me and I appreciate it. Don't apologise."

Akko watched silently as Diana set something up on the crystal ball.

"I'm going to contact Croix and Ursula now. Is that okay?"

Again, Akko nodded, waiting as Diana pressed a button. She must have some kind of high priority system because, after just a short moment, both Ursula and Croix could be seen in the crystal ball in the school and in the correctional facility respectively, Ursula looking mildly worried and Croix looking plain curious.

"Well hey, if it isn't my favourite person," Croix grinned at Diana. "And two students, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Diana and Akko?" Ursula asked. She had nervousness etched all over her face. "I'm still marking this week's papers, what's happening?"

"I'm afraid this is a very serious matter," Diana answered. Akko stayed silent. There was a brief pause as Diana took a breath. "Akko has contracted Vampirism."

The two senior witches gasped.

"Tell me you're kidding..." Croix whispered. Ursula had fallen silent, her face turning pale.

"As far as we know, it's been a few weeks. We don't know what the cause was, what type or its severity. We've simply noticed the symptoms such as sunburning, fangs, enhanced senses, sleeplessness, hunger, and..." Diana paused, struggling to paraphrase the fact that Akko had admitted to staring at her neck.

"Vampire things..." Croix finished for her. Diana nodded. "Damn." Then Ursula spoke up.

"Akko is this... Last week, was-"

"Yeah, that's when I realised," Akko answered.

"Do you two understand that there isn't a general cure for this?" Croix asked. "I don't know what you expect me to do."

"Something, anything!" Diana begged. "We can send you samples and keep you up to date with everything! Maybe you know more about Vampirism than me!?" Croix sighed.

"Wait, samples?" Akko asked.

"Things like... Hair cuttings," Diana admitted awkwardly.

"It will be very difficult to send anything through to me but if you do, I'll see what I can do," Croix tiredly offered.

"Thank you, thank you!" Diana voiced.

"Perhaps it would be easier to give it to me. I visit Croix regularly and I could easily give it to her," Ursula joined in.

"Regularly?" Diana asked.

"Weekly," The professor admitted, facing the floor. "I'm going tomorrow."

There was a short pause.

"You have no idea where this came from?" Ursula asked. "This could be a huge threat to Luna Nova or even the general public, if the wrong person finds out about this there would be mass hysteria."

"That's why we've reached out to you two," Diana nodded.

There was a beep from Croix's end, and she looked mildly frustrated.

"That's it for me, I've got to go. I'll do what I can but no guarantees. You're a tough kid, Akko, stay strong." With that, her image flickered and disappeared.

Another pause.

"Akko, you're so quiet," Ursula spoke. "Are you okay?"

"I didn't know this would be such a big problem for so many people," Akko said slowly.

"She kept apologising to me for dragging me into this," Diana said.

"We're here for you, Akko. You're in good company," the professor soothed.

Another pause.

"Thank you."

"I'll bring you the clipping promptly," Diana spoke up, again cutting a tiny section of Akko's hair.

Ursula nodded and her image flickered and disappeared, leaving just Akko and Diana again. Akko released a long breath.

"We're all on the case now," Diana tried to smile in an attempt to ease Akko. "We've got this."

It worked. Even now, Akko's heart was torn between the stress of her situation and melting again as Diana spoke so softly to her.

"Thank you, Diana," Akko said again, leaning forwards to hug Diana again. The British witch, who wasn't in hysterics this time, was caught off guard by the affection she was so unaccustomed to, and locked up briefly, her cheeks burning bright red.

"It's - you're welcome. We all want to see you at your best," she responded, hugging Akko back.

  
  
  
  


For Akko, there was a growing sense of dread and a growing sense of pessimism. She thought she had got used to Vampirism, and that soon she'd gain the courage and ask Diana to help her remove it. She thought that maybe in a few days it could all be over and Diana would be the only other person who would know.

She already turned out to be wrong on every front and Diana, the girl Akko had just fallen head over heels for, had ended up taking on the most responsibility. Akko wasn't just guilty but ashamed, and it all boiled down to her suddenly getting vampirism out of nowhere. She just wanted to know where it came from, then maybe it would be easier for her and Diana to figure out how to cure her.

Of course, Diana was completely right about the symptoms. Just days after their conversation, Akko started finding it noticeably harder to get up in the mornings. Try as she might, she couldn't fight her sleep cycle inching further into the day, only proving to leave her exhausted.

Sometimes, Akko would nap after lessons ended and stay asleep until sunset.

"Akko," Lotte said again.

"Sorry?" Akko asked, shaking her head and popping back into reality. She was in bed again. It was Thursday evening and Lotte and Sucy were trying to share their one small desk to write notes.

"Please talk to us. We're worried for you." Akko stared. "You're behaving so... un-Akko. Our dorm is really not the same when you're quiet," Lotte said sadly.

"It's... Personal..." Akko felt like an idiot but she really, really didn't want everyone finding out.

"Personal," Sucy responded with a hint of annoyance.

"Is it... What you talked to Diana about on your date?" Lotte asked carefully.

Akko nodded guiltily. Lotte sighed.

Fortunately, a knock on the door disturbed them from the awkwardness. Akko's heart lit up as Diana appeared in the door.

"Excuse me, may I enter?"

"Careful, Akko might not understand if you use that kind of language," Sucy monotoned.

"Hey, I understood just fine," Akko mumbled. "I-I mean, yeah, sure," she stammered.

Lotte and Sucy shared a look.

"I just wanted to check in on you," Diana said softly, approaching Akko but paying careful heed to the others in the room. "With regards to what we've discussed. How are you feeling?"

"Just tired, Diana," she responded weakly, staring at the ceiling.

Diana being the person to know about her secret had its upsides and downsides. Firstly, what Akko really wanted at the moment was for Diana to be closer. She wanted to go back to the park, when she had fallen asleep on her, and for the vampirism to be damned - she wanted to pour her heart out to Diana. She wanted to be special in Diana's life but the fact that the burden of knowing about it was on Diana completely ruined that. On the other hand, Diana was the one who knew, so things like this would happen more often. Diana was checking up on her - if Diana wasn't the person who knew, this wouldn't be happening.

There was no point thinking about that anyway - Diana knew, and that was that.

"How are the symptoms?" Diana whispered in her ear.

"Manageable," Akko responded.

At least Diana wasn't looking at her in pity - it was clear that Diana cared. Diana really, really cared. It was only understandable - the two had been through an absurd amount together, and had come out as very close friends. They always felt like they could fall back on each other for anything, though Akko would rely on Diana much more often than Diana would rely on Akko. This was a perfect example.

"Thank you for coming, Diana," Akko said happily, lazily reaching out a hand and letting it rest on Diana's arm.

Lotte jolted, trying to conceal her smile as Diana suddenly started flushing. Akko recognised Diana's aversion to physical affection and considered herself extremely lucky for pulling a stunt like she did on their date. Well, it wasn't a date.

The two met eyes and Akko wondered if it could be. When Diana ever got flustered it was adorable.

It often ended up playing out like that - whether or not Lotte or Sucy was in, Diana would visit Akko regularly. It became increasingly regular until, by the end of next week, it was almost every day. Lotte had decided not to pry further, simply taking joy from Diana's and Akko's constant conversation. She really wanted them to be happy together, but Akko says she's still desperate for Diana's affection but can't work up the courage to confess her feelings.

That was entirely true, but there were other reasons too.

Over the past few weeks, talk of the dance had faded, but was still present, mostly among the first years and still no one suspected anything (at least if they did, they didn't make it known).

Particularly tense study sessions passed with all 9 witches from the red, blue and green teams with surreptitious looks between Akko and Diana without suspicion. In her visits, Diana would occasionally take more tiny clippings of Akko's hair, nothing noticeable, but she would handle most of the talking to Ursula and Croix. Aside from the nervous glances Akko got from Ursula from time to time, everything seemed to settle into a slightly nervous routine that wasn't too different from what Akko was used to.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Akko?"

Akko's head snapped up, broken out of her musings by Lotte.

"You're falling asleep again..."

It was one of their study sessions between the three dorms. Akko noticed Diana give her a subtle, cautious glance as Lotte said this - it had been a few weeks since she had told Diana, and Croix and Ursula hadn't come up with anything yet.

"Sorry," Akko offered with a sheepish grin, stretching her arms above her head. "I just don't get along with studying," she offered, her eyes glazing over the content of her textbook. While it had seemed like, for a time, people were convinced by her excuses and decided not to pursue her, it had been weeks, and she noticed everyone at the table looking at her slightly differently, not just Diana. They weren't convinced.

"Maybe we should call the session for today?" Lotte asked. "While there's still sunlight?"

Amanda nodded her agreement, followed by her dorm mates and a few others on the table. Akko saw Diana warily watching her - the blonde was probably trying to decide whether to approach Akko and ask if she was feeling alright or not.

Before she came to her decision, Lotte spoke to Akko again.

"Say, Akko. You haven't been to broom training in ages. And you're almost always cooped up in your room nowadays."

Akko nodded slowly.

"I-I guess you're right."

"I know what's wrong with you, you haven't got enough sunlight in your system!" Lotte suddenly exclaimed excitedly, turning her head to the sun on the horizon through the window. "How about we all go and relax outside? It's been ages since we did that together!" She continued with excitement and a tinge of sadness.

"I don't see why not," Sucy shrugged. "If we're not gonna study anyway." Usually she wouldn't join occasions like this. Clearly she was worried about Akko as much as anyone else, who all nodded and stood up, smiling brightly.

Apart from Diana. Akko froze as the blonde shook her head at Akko, her eyes wide. Akko squinted in confusion as Diana slowly shook her head from side to side, staring sharply at her. Akko felt herself start to lock up under the gaze.

"Akko, are you gonna join in?" Lotte asked.

Akko turned to face her, then Diana again, her fists and jaw clenched tight for a moment.

"Ah, what the heck," she said tiredly, averting Diana's gaze. When the cheering of her friends filled her ears, Akko couldn't help but smile.

"Akko," Diana harshly whispered, quickly catching up as the group paraded towards the doors.

"I'll only be outside for a few minutes," Akko whispered back, trying to calm her down. "Relax."

"I don't think you recognise quite how serious this is-"

"Maybe even less than a single minute then," Akko huffed, facing down. "I won't just not go outside at all," she continued sadly. "I mean, look how excited they all are!"

Diana sighed.

"The instant you're in pain, I want you to come back inside. Even if you do straight away, do you understand?" Akko paused.

"Yeah, okay," she nodded slowly. "Fine."

The two followed closely behind the group, who Akko suspected were consciously giving the two of them space, as they approached a door in the corridor. Diana stepped closer to Akko's side.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Somehow, in the moment it almost seemed to make everything okay. Akko smiled.

"I should be thanking you," she responded.

Akko didn't pause as she got to the door, she just took a breath and hoped against hope that the tingling sensation wouldn't get much worse over the time she would spend with her friends.

Except there was no tingling sensation - instead, the instant she stepped through the door, she felt like red hot metal was being pressed against her skin. The breath she had just taken came out as a scream as all of her muscles clamped up, her throat dry and constricted and her eyes screwed shut. Akko collapsed to the ground, terror taking over as she desperately clawed for the shade she had come from, gasping when she felt a pair of hands suddenly lifting her, the tender touch on her skin feeling like it would tear grazes.

And just as suddenly, it stopped.

Akko panted for a moment, opening her stinging eyes just a creak.

Diana had pulled her back inside - she was kneeling down. Akko was lying in her arms. Everyone else was staring, looking thoroughly shaken, even Sucy.

"Akko! Akko!" Akko realised Diana was shouting, the ringing in her ears she hadn't even registered slowly fading and the world rushing back to her.

"D-" she croaked, her throat like sandpaper. Her eyes widened, realising she couldn't speak a single syllable at the moment.

She could see her skin was very red, and yet unhealthily white and flaky at the same time. She had very clearly just been seriously burned by something and she didn't know how she could explain it. Then again, she would have to leave it to Diana as everyone looked between the two of them.

Akko hissed, her skin suddenly burning again as her wounds caught up with her.

"I trust you will all hold this with utmost secrecy?" Diana asked slowly and carefully, but with the most stern voice anyone had ever heard. Taking their silence as agreement, Diana stood up, taking Akko with her. "Akko has contracted a case of vampirism. I'm going to take her to the medical wing. Speak not a word of this to anyone," she summarised, turning and leaving them behind without another word.

Fortunately the corridors were quite empty at this point, though the two still gained a few odd glances as Akko was carried along by Diana. Under other circumstances she would have loved it, though she just felt ashamed of herself for ignoring Diana's warning. Diana marched in silence for some time until she sniffed, and Akko saw her face scrunched up in an effort to hold back tears.

"Akko," she whispered. "Please be okay."

Akko, at some effort, raised a sensitive hand and stroked Diana's cheek in response, in hopes of calming her down.

Diana pushed open the door with her foot, marching into the medical area with Akko in her arms. The staff turned to stare as Akko was set down as gently as possible in a bed, shuddering from the scraping feeling.

"Akko was practising some magic on her own," Diana spoke, suddenly wearing her mask again. Akko stared as the girl gave a flawless performance of indifference and frustration. "Something went wrong with a spell while I was passing by," she lied. "I would appreciate if you allow me to make use of your facilities to take care of this matter myself."

No arguments. Soon, the two of them were alone.

There was a brief pause with the distant sound of fading footsteps before Diana sighed slowly, taking a quick look around the room. Once again, Akko could only watch as she picked up and took a few items out of satchels and mixed them into a potion. She wheezed quietly through her sore throat, her eyes drawn to the fading sunlight through the window.

She had no idea it was going to be that serious. It was the most terrified she was in her life, the moment it set in like that. Would she never be able to be outside in sunlight again in her life?

"Akko, drink," Diana said tiredly, handing her a small bottle with very shallow contents swirling around at the bottom. "It might be a bit cold," she warned.

Akko nodded, steeling herself once again and slowly pouring the potion down her throat - sure enough, there was a chill, but not as bad as she had expected. Immediately, her skin started tingling again and her eyes widened, scanning to see if sunlight was hitting her through a window.

"Don't worry, that's just the effects of the potion," Diana explained, taking a hold of her wand and raising it above Akko as it started glowing green. "The burning isn't that serious, you'll be totally fine in an hour," she said then moved to sit on the edge of the bed, turning her body towards Akko and holding her wand up.

"Y-you-" Akko attempted again, clearing her throat. "You'll... stay here... for an... hour?"

Diana smiled.

"I'll be here for as long as it takes."

"You're n...not angry?" Diana shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Akko. I'm sorry this has happened to you. You didn't deserve it." Akko was silent. "You're the last person in the world who'd deserve any of this." Akko's heart started beating hard again. Curse her teenage brain - even at a moment like this, she was getting butterflies in her stomach at Diana's kindness. It would be easy to misinterpret her gestures but Akko knew that Diana was just taking responsibility for her wellbeing. But it was a fun thought to entertain.

"Thank you," Akko said quietly.

"You deserve at least this," Diana answered sadly, stroking Akko's cheek as Akko had done to her. Akko shut her eyes, melting into the touch.

Akko had no words left. In Diana's company, she could be herself more than anywhere else, and let it all out. In doing so, she felt a tear prickle at her eye. Then another. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and terrified. Now in pain and almost overwhelmed by Diana's kindness, she felt herself crying. Diana must have noticed as her expression softened further.

"It's okay," she whispered, moving her free hand to Akko's shoulder and holding it. "We'll deal with this. You'll pull through."

Akko nodded, tempted to sit up and hold onto Diana for comfort, but before she could, Diana had leaned over and wrapped one arm around Akko's torso, resting her head on her chest. Noticing Akko's expression of mixed confusion and embarrassment, she smiled slightly.

"I'm tired too," she offered while still holding her wand and maintaining her spell.

Akko nodded quickly, her eyes wide as Diana sighed. She was turning bright red. Already a lot of the pain was gone, but she knew that didn't mean her skin was healed. It was probably something Diana was doing.

Akko didn't know how long they were there - after a while, she had lost track of time. After about an hour, Diana's spell finally stopped and Akko saw that her skin looked perfectly fine. She couldn't imagine the strain it had put on Diana to keep up a spell for an hour straight, but for Diana, a relatively minor injury like hers might not have been that bad. Only, after the spell had stopped, Diana didn't move.

"Diana?" Akko asked. Her chest heaved comfortably up and down, but her eyes had shut and she didn't stir. "Y-you haven't fallen asleep, have you?" Akko asked quietly. It was late in the evening by now, and she was just starting to feel more alive.

No response.

Akko stared at the witch in front of her, who had moved to hold her with both arms at some point, her face more restful than she had ever seen before.

Akko sighed slowly, letting all her stress out. She chuckled to herself, realising this was becoming a bit of a recurring theme as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Diana's ear.

"You're adorable," Akko whispered happily, burying her hands in the blonde's hair and resting her head back against her pillow before pausing in deliberation. "But we can't spend the night like this." She frowned. "It wouldn't be right. I haven't even confessed my feelings to you."

Diana didn't stir. It was oh so tempting to shut her eyes and let herself rest, lulled to sleep in Diana's sweet embrace.

"Come on Diana," Akko said a little bit louder, slowly sitting up and gently grabbing the blonde's shoulders. Diana made a sleepy humming noise into Akko's chest, shaking her head. Akko froze. Was Diana actually awake?

She waited for a moment, until she was sure Diana wasn't, before concluding that it was just an adorable sleep habit of hers.

"Diana, please," Akko chuckled. "I don't wanna get up either," she said, before slowly shaking the blonde.

"Mm?" Diana hummed, screwing her eyes shut for a second. "Akko?" She asked, sleepily opening her eyes. "A-Akko?!" She repeated in a much higher voice, her eyes widening as she woke up. She let go of Akko's body and moved back two steps faster than Akko had ever seen her move before, her face instantly bright red. "I-I'm so sorry, I must have accidentally fallen asleep! I really didn't..." She trailed off, closing her mouth, opening it again and then closing it.

"It's alright," Akko responded, suddenly embarrassed by the situation herself. It was so much easier to stay composed when Diana was asleep. "Come on, let's go to our dorms," she said, moving to stand.

"Are you feeling better?" Diana asked nervously. Akko stretched her arms above her head before rubbing her hand up and down her other arm. "I feel fine," she nodded as Diana made the bed behind her. "Thank you, Diana."

"It's okay, Akko. I want to help."

The two shared another smile as they set off towards the dorms together. The walk was quiet and undisturbed. Diana seemed to be staring at her feet and Akko could only think about what just happened. Diana had fallen asleep, holding onto her. When she woke up, she looked flustered. Again, Akko began guiltily entertaining the thought, at the back of her mind, that maybe Diana liked her too, in the same way. It was hard not to, when she had such a crush on the girl, but it seemed like a possible hope after what had happened.

Akko was disappointed as their walk came to an end, once again reaching the third floor where they would split up for their respective dorms.

"Diana..." Akko mumbled, the words on the tip of her tongue. She really, really wanted to tell Diana how she felt.

"Yes?" Diana asked calmly, though Akko could tell by her eyes that she was nervous. She froze, standing silently with Diana waiting expectantly for what seemed like an eternity. "I..." Silence. "Th..." She couldn't do this to Diana now. Not during these times, when she had so much on her plate. It wouldn't be fair. "Thank you," she sadly conceded.

"Of course," Diana nodded. "I'm always happy to help you," she said slowly, before turning and disappearing into her dorm area. Akko mentally stamped her foot in frustration, stood there on her own like a moron. And was it just her or had Diana looked disappointed when she had given up and said thank you?

Akko shook her head, turning to walk towards her room. Probably just her brain seeing what it wanted to see.

She paused, again, at her door. Sucy and Lotte knew now. She would have to talk to them as well.

No sense in waiting.

When she pushed open her door, Lotte and Sucy were both inside, and surprised to see her. They both stopped what they were doing and, uncharacteristically of Sucy, stood to greet her gently at the door.

"Hey guys," Akko began sadly, already guilty for keeping everything from them until now. Wordlessly, they both stepped into Akko and embraced her in a tight hug. Akko froze. Lotte had clearly been in tears. Sucy seemed more agitated than normal.

"We're so sorry, Akko..." Lotte said. "We had no idea it was like this." She was itching to ask if this was the personal matter she had told Diana about, but now really wasn't the time. Sucy was silent, sitting down on her bed and watching the other girls in the room, quite perturbed.

Lotte stepped back, holding Akko's shoulders at arm's length.

"Are you okay? A-after, today..."

"I'm not in pain, don't worry. Diana is a pretty good healer. As it turns out," she added jokingly.

"Y-how long has it been like this? You could have told us any time, you know... A-and, we would have helped! Do you know how it-"

"Lotte," Sucy said quietly. "You agreed not to overwhelm her."

Lotte paused, resigning and slumping down in her bed.

"Sorry Akko. We're just here for you, okay? We're your dorm mates, and you're our best friend."

A small smile came to Akko's lips. She never wanted to lose the dorm mates she treasured so much. Sometimes it was easy to lose sight of how important they were to her.

"Thanks," she said as she sat on her bed. "It really means a lot."

After a short pause, Lotte couldn't resist asking another question.

"Is this why you've been up so late?"

"Huh? How late have you been staying up?" Akko asked, noticing Sucy giving Lotte a look.

"I'm a light sleeper, so sometimes I wake up in the morning and I can hear you moving around. Maybe four or five o'clock?" She hazarded. "B-but it's not your fault, I wake up a lot!" She added quickly.

"Lotte?" Akko frowned. "It's been over a year and I never knew that. Sorry for... Disturbing you," she mumbled.

"It's not your fault," Lotte repeated sullenly. Akko didn't know what level the ginger meant that statement on, but she certainly hoped it was true. After that, the dorm fell into silence again, though Sucy's mischievous smirk was gone and Lotte didn't sound like she was reading nightfall.

The time of day Akko got to sleep was erratic - often in the early hours of the morning but occasionally around midnight or before, when she was exhausted. This being one of those days, Akko laid down in her bed and fell asleep with her dorm mates.


	7. Chapter 7

Akko awoke to Diana sat at Lotte's desk, speaking into her crystal ball. She sat up curiously, rubbing her eyes. Lotte and Sucy were nowhere to be seen and it was already well past noon.

Diana, sat with her hands neatly folded on her lap, noticed Akko stirring and quickly turned her body to face her. Confused, the brunette saw Ursula's and Croix's faces in the crystal ball.

"Akko, how are you feeling?" Diana asked softly.

"F-fine, actually?" Akko hazarded, sitting up further before feeling a sudden ache in her core, groaning and lying back down. "A bit achy though," she admitted.

Diana sighed, the two witches in the crystal ball nodding.

"I was having another meeting with Ursula and Croix, Akko," Diana began. "I was going to involve you but you were asleep," she continued with a hint of discomfort. "Lotte and Sucy were surprisingly eager to leave me here with you."

"R-right..." Akko mumbled, thinning her eyes and stretching her arms out.

"I have informed Ursula and Croix of yesterday's events. You'll notice there is some sunlight coming through the glass. How does it feel?" Diana asked nervously. Akko could tell, as her usually perfect stoic business face was betrayed by the fear in her eyes and the slight tremble in her voice.

"It's just a bit uncomfortable," Akko pouted, rubbing her skin. "Nowhere near as bad."

Diana sighed deeply.

"That's a huge relief. I want you to take it easy today, alright? Just because you feel alright now doesn't mean that you are."

"Y-yeah," Akko nodded, words dancing across her tongue as she opened her mouth to speak but paused. "I'm sorry I ignored your warning-"

"It's fine," Diana cut her off, her fists clenched. "I've told you not to worry about me." There was anger in her voice, but only a hint of it - though the hint was enough for Akko to seal her lips with a heavy heart, turning her body to face the other witches in a tense silence.

"Well," they were all relieved as Croix quickly broke the silence. "As I mentioned, we've found something." The two junior witches looked to her face in the crystal ball. They knew that she busied herself even while detained. They didn't know if she worked herself to the bone for redemption or to prove something, or just for the sake of getting things done as she would in any other situation, but she definitely looked more tired than usual, and Akko and Diana offered silent thanks for her unspoken sacrifices. "It's not a huge discovery," Croix continued. "But from examining the samples Diana has sent, I've found that the cause of the vampirism wasn't initially inside of Akko's body when this all started. This tells us that it wasn't biological, so she wasn't bitten by anything, or poisoned. No vampire epidemic in Luna Nova to worry about - but that's all I can give you right now. It must have come from an outside magical source," she mused. "It could have come from a spell or a curse, that someone cast, or left somewhere as a defence, or through a cursed object, or through a spell gone wrong, I just..." She trailed off.

"Croix," Ursula gently reminded her, prompting her to pause and meet Akko's eyes again.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I've hurt all of you enough. I have to be able to help with this."

Diana was half tempted to remind her that she was under no obligations, though she wasn't entirely sure that, in that knowledge, Croix wouldn't just return to researching Wagandea and forget about this. Silently fuming at the prospect of someone doing this to Akko, she shook her head.

"Thank you," Akko eventually said. She didn't know what to say. After another short pause, Croix nodded and disappeared. Diana met Ursula's eye, who smiled gently at the two of them before disappearing herself.

Akko didn't know why Diana insisted so ardently that she stopped worrying for her sake. It was uncharacteristic, and difficult to rule out as a kind gesture. Akko knew that she was under some ridiculous amount of pressure, catching her from time to time in the library researching vampirism - she appreciated and adored how Diana placed this above every other obligation without even telling anyone about it. She felt incomparably blessed to have such a close bond with the blonde, yet at the back of her mind she felt ashamed of selfishly wishing the two could be closer together. She felt foolish every time the two met eyes and despite everything, her heart fluttered with warmth just from her presence.

The two fell into a long silence. There would be a lot of moments like this shared between them - the silence wasn't tense, but it wasn't comfortable. When Diana caught a free moment and she was in a relaxed enough headspace, she would come to Akko's dorm and the two would just be near each other, quietly. It was another reason Akko was thankful for who Diana was.

"Well," Diana eventually said, startling Akko, and standing up. "I must keep up with my studies. I hope you understand."

"Y-yeah, of course..."

"Keep well, Akko."

Akko nodded nervously as the blonde slowly turned to leave, then watched her go. Underneath the warmth of the moments they shared, Akko felt like she owed a debt to Diana. She knew Diana would tell her not to worry about it, that she didn't owe her a thing and that friends should help each other, but knowing that didn't help. Being told that helped only briefly.

It was terrible timing. Of all the words hovering on the tip of Akko's tongue that she couldn't begin to externalise, she wanted to confess her feelings to Diana. She felt as though no matter the outcome, the Cavendish heir would never hurt her. She just didn't want to hurt Diana by burdening her more.

Akko decided instead to follow in her footsteps - her grades had been slipping over the past few weeks, so she would try to do some studying in the library - carefully picking a more shaded area of the room, Akko sat down with a textbook and stared daggers into it. While she fought against her brain to process the information she was reading, she couldn't help but notice that the library was quiet. There weren't many people in there, true, but it's like there was a universal damper on the mood of Luna Nova. Aside from the rain outside, which Akko found herself surprisingly grateful for, Akko just wasn't noticing laughs or smiles.

From time to time she would dare longing glances at Diana, who would always be diligently studying in the library more often than Akko would be working at all, and spending uncharacteristically large amounts of time in the potions classroom. Akko thought perhaps she was struggling to stay on top of their new potions topic, but as soon as Akko saw what she was doing in the library, she realised. Diana was keeping her work very carefully hidden for good reason, but when Akko had managed to look at it, however briefly, it was clear as day that she was researching vampirism.

Now Diana wouldn't even focus on her own studies and it was Akko's fault.

"Akko..." Sucy began with uncharacteristic hesitation.

This time when Akko was snapped out of her thoughts, she was in her dorm room. It had been a few days since her meeting with Diana and she was sitting in her dorm room just past curfew after the day of lessons.

Akko glanced up at Sucy.

"I understand there were reasons you didn't tell any of us about this," she began. It was obvious what she was alluding to - ever since Akko had burnt in the sun in front of everyone, none of them could look her in the eye without pity anymore. Akko hated it. "But as much of an idiot as you are, I still want to help."

"Well," Akko frowned. "Sure, but... I really have no idea what to say." Akko sighed guiltily, sitting down on her bed. "Diana knows more about it than I do," she mumbled. "Like always. Diana and Ursula know what's going on. I'm just using up their time."

"Ursula?" Lotte asked. Lotte and Sucy met eyes. "How many people know?"

"Not many. Me, then Diana, then Ursula and Croix, now all of you."

"How long has this been going on for?" Lotte asked, her eyes wide. Sucy was looking at Akko too. Akko shrugged.

"I don't really know, it came on so gradually. I mean it's been a few weeks, maybe a month?"

"A month?" Sucy hissed.

"Yes, Diana told me that if I'd spoken up earlier it wouldn't be this bad, I know," Akko cut her off. Sucy watched Akko without a word, her eyes not bearing a shred of emotion. Suddenly Lotte gasped.

"T-the party! Where you collapsed-"

"Yeah, thinking back on it, that was probably... Yeah. Probably why I was so hungry all the time since then."

"S-so..." Lotte began, but paused, meeting Sucy's eyes again. The same thought was going through their heads, Akko's included, but no one wanted to bring it up.

"Do you crave blood?" Sucy asked bluntly after a long pause.

"No!" Akko shot back. "W-well, I mean, I guess I haven't thought about it."

"Really?" Lotte asked, her face brightening a bit. "Nothing at all?"

"Well..." Akko paused. "I... I sometimes end up staring at people's necks, b-but I'm not about to bite them!" She added quickly.

"And that time with the brooms?" Lotte wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Akko sighed. "I guess that was because of..."

"You haven't come to broom training since," Lotte thought aloud.

"Now we know why," Akko dryly answered.

"Maybe I should go and ask Diana about it," Sucy mused, lying back on her bed. Lotte had a slightly disturbed, conflicted expression on her face.

"Last Sunday she was in the library literally all day," Akko said. "I must have checked on her about twenty times... She was there before lunch and she was still there after midnight." Akko had been waiting for an opportunity to talk to her alone and hopefully confess her feelings. She supposed, if Diana wanted to say no then so be it, she just needed to get it out of her head. Clearly the opportunity hadn't come as Akko couldn't just walk up to her in the middle of her work time and ask to talk to her, then bring that up.

And what if Diana turned her down? What if it creeped her out? Would the awkwardness between them drive them apart? Would it cause problems for Diana's work to cure her?

Akko gave a long, deep sigh.

She just wanted to climb up into Lotte's bunk and talk to her about how much she loved Diana again, or ask how she should confess. But all of that seemed pointless now.

Unsurprisingly, her dorm mates had fallen asleep and before Akko knew it, hours had passed.

She sighed, jumping up and out of her bed again. Time for another pointless night wander. As the weeks had passed, filled with more night hours than day hours, Akko had begun to take solace in the moon. It meant peace and quiet. It meant a lack of sunlight. The moon itself wasn't anything particularly alluring but its presence brought her some level of peace. At least, the most she could get in her situation.

Akko paused, hearing distinct footsteps from the floor below. Silently, she crept towards a staircase and travelled down, hiding behind a corner and peeking to see a distinct flash of blonde hair disappearing around a corner.

She breathed out a and smiled. However things had gone or will pass, she would always be happy to near Diana. With this in mind, she quietly set off to follow her. She was unsure of how she would approach her or what she would say, but Diana would understand her being up this late. If anything, Akko should query why Diana was up this late. Diana had night patrol that day, but it had ended almost an hour ago. Perhaps she had just finished in the library again.

Akko paused, casting her eyes down - only to be snuck up on as her attention was elsewhere.

"Miss Kagari!" Came a stern voice. Akko spun around, cursing her luck as Finnelan stood behind her.

"F-finnelan?"

"On the way to the kitchens to help yourself again?" She asked, thinning her eyes and approaching Akko.

"Professor..." Akko began slowly, but shook her head. "I... I'm not trying to steal from the kitchens... I just couldn't sleep," she answered weakly, her arms flopping down to her sides. Finnelan raised a suspecting eyebrow, her hands glued to her hips in disapproval. "I know it's not believable but... I promise I'm just wondering because I can't sleep," she said tiredly, casing her eyes down and hoping to appeal to the professor. "I promise," she repeated.

The professor's haughty demeanour appeared to shift slightly, her gaze softening by some tiny amount.

"Let's hope you're not lying, Miss Kagari. You know the rules. If you can't sleep, be awake in your room," she said, emphasizing the last three words. "You have an early morning of lessons tomorrow. See to it that you're asleep as soon as possible instead of traversing the corridors in the middle of the night!" She insisted, turning and pacing away without a word.

Akko stared. Somehow, Finnelan had believed her. Though she was telling the truth, Akko couldn't believe it. She had read somewhere that Vampires had the power to charm people but she had read a lot of things about a lot of different types of vampires across folklore.

Shaking her head, Akko remembered seeing Diana walking down the corridor moments ago and hoped to catch up with her. She paused, tuning herself into her surroundings - quiet snores from the dorms, the tiniest creaks of wooden beams, Finnelan's fading footsteps bouncing around the corridor - Akko opened her eyes and took in the unlit corridors as if they were lit by daylight, moving forwards with careful attention to not be caught again.

Listening carefully, she could hear footsteps but she could tell they were Finnelan's. They sounded nothing like Diana's - the elder witch would clop around in her heels as if she wanted to sound like an old person while Diana’s carefully maintained gait gave very little sound. Even so, Akko knew she would be able to hear Diana's footsteps when the school was so quiet. Akko breathed a dejected sigh, supposing that the girl must have gone to sleep by now.

Then she picked up something else. From the direction of the main hall, a new sound had just started - a blissfully melodic, airy sweet sound floating through the air. Akko turned slowly to its direction, pacing towards it. It was in the same direction that Diana had gone. She could just tell. As Akko got closer, she began to hear the sound like any normal person would hear a normal sound, instead of her brain just realising it was happening some distance away. It was an airy, expressive sound - a musical instrument, which was the last thing she was expecting so long after curfew.

"Huh?" She frowned in confusion, stepping silently towards the main hall and pushing the door carefully open.

And among the last things she expected to see was Diana, alone in the hall after curfew, playing the flute. More surprisingly, she wasn't stood up with proper posture. She was leaning against a wall. Akko had never seen it before. Curious, Akko slipped in silently and shut the door behind her, creeping closer to Diana, concealed by shadows until she climbed up and perched on the windowsill near the blonde to listen more attentively. Unsurprisingly, she was excellent.

Diana stopped playing, sighing deeply as her arms dropped to her side and she hung her head. The silence was startling as her extravagant hair fell messily in front of her face before her knees collapsed and she sunk down against the wall until she was curled up on the floor. Akko hadn't ever seen her so exhausted. Diana flicked her flute through the air and after a subtle spark of magic darting through it, it transformed back into her wand. Another sigh.

"I didn't know you played the flute," Akko eventually said. Diana's eyes darted up and she looked for a moment like she would stand up and properly address her posture, but decided against it, her eyes wide and shocked as they bore into Akko. She didn't respond. "It was really good."

"Thank you," the blonde eventually responded, casting her eyes back to the ground. She was starting to look red. Maybe she was unwell?

"Are you okay?" Akko asked, jumping off her perch and sitting cross-legged opposite Diana, who stared straight through her for a moment before nodding her head.

"You understand," Diana said quietly. "Circumstances have left me somewhat drained."

"So you broke curfew to play the flute?" Akko queried. Diana gave a slight smile.

"I occasionally do this when I'm having trouble sleeping. Rest assured I'm perfectly healthy, just understandably concerned," she answered, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"You... Planning on sleeping here?" Akko joked.

"Would you stay to watch over me?" She answered easily. This time it was Akko's turn to turn red, jittering at her possible implication. Akko paused for thought, fighting the urge to shrug and curl up next to the girl. That would have a world of repercussions.

"If you wanted me to I'd be happy to," Akko eventually answered. Diana opened her eyes again to look at Akko, her features betraying little but a glimmer of excitement.

"I... N-no, I'll be... I'll be returning to my dorm, of course. L-let's be sensible." Akko resisted the urge to smirk. Diana was stuttering and it was amazing.

"Wouldn't be that insensible," Akko mumbled, knowing fully well that it would be. Diana let out a soft chuckle, closing her eyes and leaning her head back again. Akko waited for Diana to say something else but received no such validation, just watching the Cavendish heir as her head tilted to one side, away from Akko, once again revealing her neck. It looked so pale in the moonlight.

It looked so fresh, and it was more alluring than any other part of the girl in the moment. Akko felt like she could just reach forward and trace her fingers down it - Diana let out a gasp, the sound echoing around the hall as she recoiled from the contact and stared with wide eyes at Akko. Akko had frozen, her brain catching up when she realised she had leaned forwards, her arm held up in the air where the girl's neck was.

Finally something clicked and Akko jumped back too, pinning her arm to her side and swallowing hard.

"D-Diana, I'm sorry, I didn't mean - I wasn't going to do anything! I promise!" She pleaded, her heart clenching as the blonde's eyes momentarily displayed fear.

"It's... Quite alright," Diana eventually responded while standing up and promptly reassuming her proper posture. "I suppose this kind of thing is going to happen."

"W-what do you mean?" Akko breathed shakily, ignoring the crack in her voice as Diana stepped towards her and stood tall over her, who was sat messily on the floor and leaning back on her elbows. Diana knelt down to be closer to her level, pursing her lips briefly.

"Vampiric tendencies, Akko. It's going to become natural for you."

"V-vampiric... Wait, so does that mean..." Akko stammered. Both already knew what she was trying to refer to. She stuttered for a moment, her hands jittering by her sides before she took a deep breath. "Biting... necks?"

"Don't be afraid of it," Diana said firmly, trying her best to offer a smile. "So long as you're aware of it, you can keep it under control. But yes, you are going to experience that urge." Akko's blood turned to ice.

"B-but what's to say I will be able to keep it under control?" Akko shot back loudly, rising to her knees and clambering towards Diana until she could grab onto the sides of her robe, tears appearing in her eyes. Burying her face in Diana's chest, Akko lifted her arms to hold tightly onto the blonde, not hearing a word of what she was saying. Akko shivered, hit again by the shock of her situation. Blood red imagery shot through her brain like fire, leaving her a twitchy and weeping pile of nerves clinging to the girl she loved for dear life.

Then she felt arms wrap around her body. Hands that rested against her back with fingertips grazing her shoulders - little pads of warmth between her and Diana. An embrace filled with her whole heart of love and compassion. Warmth filled Akko's body. Drowned in a cold, screaming wind inside her head, Akko screwed her eyes shut to the whispy blackness around her until a bright light shone through - Diana's tightening grip. The sound of her accelerated heartbeat. The tickling of her long hair and her warm breath against Akko's neck. Her chest rising and falling with each of her breaths.

Much like before, Akko only just began to notice the ringing in her ears, hearing Diana's muffled voice repeating her name gently.

"Akko. Akko. Akko, can you hear me?" Akko looked up, squinting as her blurry visage became gradually clear. Diana was looking down at her. "Are you feeling light-headed again?"

"No," Akko grumbled slowly. Recognising Diana's discomfort and this kind of proximity she moved to quickly separate, but was surprised when Diana's embrace held firm - more surprised when the girl pulled her back into her chest, holding her tightly. Akko felt herself melting, ready to just stop and let the moment last forever.

"Tell me you're okay," Diana insisted, holding Akko's limp body against her chest.

"I... Diana, I can't say that," Akko sadly shook her head, noticing Diana's blouse was getting damp with her tears.

"Look at me," Diana insisted again, forcing calmness into her voice. Akko obeyed. "You're keeping yourself under control now. We're all working to find a cure. You've got to hold out. I know you can. You always do." Akko was left fighting a pang of disappointment as Diana slowly let go. "Well, it's..." Diana mumbled, glancing up at the clock. Akko followed her eyes, where the hands indicated it had been over an hour since midnight. "We need to go," Diana spoke. Despite the last hints of sunlight having long since fled the hall and the undeniable tired bags under Diana's eyes, it felt more like mid-day to Akko.

"Of course," Akko mumbled. Diana tried to step forwards but stumbled slightly, balancing herself on a table. "Diana?" Akko asked, leaning forward to offer her support, immediately concerned.

"I'm just tired, Akko," Diana stated, rubbing her temples.

"Can you at least let me walk you to your room?" Akko pouted. Diana smiled.

"Of course."

"And let's hope Finnelan is done patrolling the corridors," Akko mused, stepping up to Diana to pull the girl's arm over her shoulder, supporting her weight. Diana jerked slightly, her face turning redder each second as she searched her head for a moment. Her eyes bore into Akko's, her muscles tense for a moment until she resigned to her fate, shaking her head and sighing.

"Thank you, Akko."

"Thank you," Akko corrected her as the two started awkwardly lumbering together - Akko could tell that Diana was actually close to collapsing. Would she have even got to her room had Akko not heard her? Didn't she realise that Akko would hear her? "Thank you for putting up with me. Thanks for checking I'm alright," the words left her mouth easily. "Thank you for... A whole load of stuff right now," she spoke in an exasperated tone, unable to express her sentiments properly.

Diana was giving her a look she couldn't quite read. Diana who Akko considered so far above her in every manner. The Cavendish heir who was a prodigy of a witch in every sense of the word. The blonde whose eyes commanded authority but could melt Akko's heart when she smiled.

"Akko, you would do the same for me," she eventually responded, her quiet voice sounding barely above her laboured footsteps as they approached the dorm area. "I promise that helping you brings me joy," she stated slowly. "If our situations were the other way round... Wouldn't you rush to the opportunity of helping me?"

Akko nodded. There wasn't a shred of doubt about it.

"Well," Diana flashed her a tired smile, leaning against the door to her dorm room.

"Yeah," Akko answered awkwardly, stood in the middle of the corridor with her hands fiddling with each other. There was a pause as they met eyes. She felt like the corridor stretched infinitely on in each direction and that there were hundreds of pairs of prying eyes on her - as Diana seemed to look expectantly at her, Akko felt suddenly embarrassed. "W-well it's been nice!" She quickly said, turning red.

"Thank you for the company," Diana nodded, pausing before slipping her door open. "Goodnight Akko," she whispered before stepping through the door and shutting it.

Akko backed into the opposite wall and wiped her brow, letting out a deep sigh. Inevitably it would be several hours until she could sleep. Perhaps she had to start viewing the early hours of the morning as time just like any other time in the day - time she should be practising magic or studying. Not just waiting to get to sleep.

Wandering the corridors in the dead of night was lonely. There were no friendly faces, no laughs or smiles, no conversation, no birds singing, not even footsteps. The faeries were all asleep. Akko couldn't dare to make a sound for fear of serious repercussions and her spellcasting practise tended to be very loud. With no company but the wall stern-faced alumni photographs and the occasional noise of the nocturnal creatures outside, it had a surprising mental drain on Akko. Since realising she'd been waking Lotte up while she was in their dorm room, she had taken to avoiding being in the dorm room late at night, until she would go back in to go to sleep.

She would regularly be just going to sleep when the sky was bright as day. Lying in bed, Akko sleepily glanced at the clock and cringed when she realised she had under three hours until school started, let alone when she had to get up. Still, she could take some solace in the fact that she wasn't being completely sleep-deprived - simply the darkness of the night brought her alive. Once the sun had lit the sky, Akko could feel herself easily slipping into sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Akko woke up to a pounding headache.

Just as it had been when she had fallen asleep, the sky was bright, the sun harsh even through the window and curtain. Akko idly lay in her bed, slowly waking up with heavy muscles, hesitant to respond to her brain's signals. Just readjusting her position made her light-headed. She fought hard to keep her eyes open - falling back asleep would be so easy. Conditions were perfect for it, after all, if not a little hot.

Despite what little rest she had, she had to get up. She couldn't start missing lessons and fall under more suspicion. Making a grab for the bunk above her, Akko used all of her willpower in rigidly pulling herself upright, stretching slowly and moaning inadvertently. The night before - or rather, the early morning - had been fun. If this was the price Akko had to pay for times like that then she would gladly keep doing it.

First class, Monday morning.

Shaking her head, Akko idly noticed Lotte sat at their desk. Sucy wasn't in bed - she was probably out and about early.

She thinned her eyes at her clock, trying to decipher the minute hand from the hour hand. Something didn't quite add up.

As her brain finally kicked into gear, Akko froze. The clock read just past 2 o'clock.

"W-what? Lotte?" Akko hissed, jolting backwards and pressing her back against the wall. Why was lotte even here? Was it still lunch break? What happened to the morning's lessons?

"Akko, thank goodness you're awake!" The ginger sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow as Akko's confusion robbed her of any useful response. "We tried to wake you up in the morning but it just wasn't happening, and I came back in the morning break and Ursula was here and we still couldn't wake you up and lunch break is about to end and-"

"Lotte, hold on!" Akko slurred, throwing her covers off herself and trudging out of her bed, forced to lean a hand against the wall. "Ursula was here?"

"Mhm," the ginger nodded with wide eyes. "She said she was stopping the other teachers from marching into this room to fetch you for lessons but this just isn't going to work long-term so she's just set off to speak to Holbrooke and a few other teachers-"

"She's telling them?!" Akko hissed.

"She said there wasn't any other option, they're going to find out one way or another if you miss this many lessons and there's no way they can make you get by without sleep," she attempted to explain to the panicking brunette who had thrown her pyjamas across the room in her effort to quickly don her uniform.

"She can't just tell them!" Akko cried, wrestling her blouse over her head. "They're gonna go crazy about this!" She yelled, kicking open her door with her uniform barely on and racing down the corridor, Lotte's nervous objections dying in her ears before she processed them. She was barely spared a single glance by the students milling around the corridors - running around the corridor in a panic and violating uniform regulation with just about every item of clothing she was wearing wasn't uncommon at all, but with her heart pumping in her chest violently and uncomfortably, students could tell that something was very wrong.

Her brain had gone into overdrive, taking the fastest route to Holbrooke's office and praying that she would find them there. Then what? Burst in and demand she could speak to Ursula? Was Ursula even wrong? Second-guessing herself at a time like this wasn't supremely helpful as Akko bumped into walls and almost slipped over a few times, panting fast and hard. Each time she walked past a window she felt a violent heatwave, resisting the urge to recoil. The sounds of the corridor were agonisingly loud in her head again, blurred images striking across her vision before she collided head-on with the headmaster's door at a full sprint.

The door, fortunately unlocked, swung open with a great rattling and a massive winding impact through Akko as she stumbled into the room, falling to her knees and clutching her ribs hard.

"Professor Ursula you can't!" She screamed, lifting her eyes from where they were digging into the floor to survey the open office - completely empty.

Akko's heart sank, her shout echoing around the room, down the corridor and in her head.

Met with only the mocking smiles on portraits lining the walls, Akko collapsed further onto her elbows, one of her legs giving out as a great ringing erupted in her ears. She gasped out, suddenly finding her sight betraying her but feeling that she had fallen onto her side, though no sound escaped her throat but a hoarse whisper.

Where else would she be? In her office? Finnelan's office? An empty classroom? Where did they hold teacher meetings anyway? There was no way Akko would be able to find her in time. There was no way Akko could even get to Ursula's office in time, she thought, attempting to stand but only falling back onto the ground and clutching her core, pain suddenly flaring in her shoulder where she had impacted the door.

Akko opened one eye, catching a brief glance of the door she had come through hanging on one hinge and nothing beyond, groaning loudly as she struck the floor hard with her palm, trying again to stand up, unable to process a single thought. The door crashed onto the floor behind her as her arm gave out, bringing her body to the floor again.

"Shit," she hissed, registering the destruction, trying to curl up as the outside world grew louder and louder. There was a sudden, ravenous hunger in her gut, voracious, painful and demanding - she felt her grip on consciousness fading though the pain didn't fade - all she was left with was a blurry imprint of the room's colour, fading quickly as white noise filled her ears and some sickly taste filled her mouth.

A voice was calling her name. Akko attempted to roll onto her back to face whoever was approaching but her eyes fell closed, her hands falling limply at her sides as her brain shut down.

Lotte knelt down, trembling at the sight of the doors broken into the office with wood splintered all around - Akko was limp and unhealthily pale, her hair somehow matted with blood, the blouse over her shoulder and ribs clearly marked red and damp.

"Akko!" She cried again, trying not to look at the discomforted expression printed on Akko's face and ignoring the bitter tears on her cheeks.

That was when the Luna Nova staff appeared in the doorway. With Ursula at the front of the group, they all looked on in abject horror. All movement in the corridor stopped dead. Any shred of doubt for what Ursula had told them was struck clean from their minds.

  
  
  
  


Akko awoke in the school's medical area again.

Very numb.

Immediately she noticed her blouse had been removed to make way for the bandages wrapped around her torso. Her right shoulder was also tightly wrapped up. Her hair lay messily across the bed, her hair tie placed on the table beside her.

She breathed out heavily, moving her hands up to her face to rub her eyes but she felt a cool touch on her right wrist, holding her arm in place.

"Please try to keep your right arm still." It was Diana.

Diana was sat beside her. Presumably she had been waiting for her to wake up. Akko let her head's weight pull it back against the pillow which softly lulled her backwards. Breathing out a slow, laboured breath, Akko shut her eyes as vivid memories of what she just experienced rushed back into head like a tsunami.

The sun was setting.

Her mind was filled with an ever-increasing list of questions and Akko didn't know where to start.

"How do you feel?" Diana asked with a neutral expression. Akko could tell that her stoicism wouldn't last long, wondering how far through the conversation they would get before it collapsed before immediately berating herself for the thought.

"Weird... It's very numb under the bandages," Akko answered slowly. "My ribs hurt a lot."

"You're on a few painkillers," Diana explained. "But they're not going to completely stop the pain."

"Diana..." Akko pursed her lips. She didn't even know where to begin. It wasn't that it was a boring situation that she was used to, she just felt like a fool that she kept finding herself in it. Diana would want to know what happened but Akko didn't know better than anyone else. She'd just gone and caused Diana more pain by panicking over what Lotte had said. She didn't even know if she could say it was her fault or not.

Following a long silence as Akko thought, her face scrunched up in frustration, Diana moved her hand from Akko's wrist to her hand, gently weaving her fingers between the Akko's. Akko froze at the display of affection, nervously glancing up at her to find the tense anger she was expecting not present. Instead, Diana was wearing a dark, tired expression. Like she was tired of fighting and fearing for Akko. It wasn't an expression of resignation. It was grim determination.

"Please try to calm down," Diana said quietly. "It's okay, we healed you. I've got you," she added soothingly. Akko did as she was told, leaning back and trying to focus only on her hand in Diana's. The blonde had probably done that deliberately, knowing Akko would be very distracted by it.

"What's happening?" Akko asked shakily.

"I don't know." Diana was slumping in her chair and her voice sounded more like tired breathing than speech. She clearly hadn't rested well though her grip on Akko's hand was tight. "I just... don't know."

There was a long, painful silence.

  
  
  
  


"Ursula and Lotte filled me in," Diana eventually began. "She told the staff about your vampirism. You tried to stop her, panicked and lost control. You ran headlong into the door and broke it down, causing serious damage to your own body, then passed out." She paused. "You don't know your own strength."

Akko said nothing.

"I was promptly called and I healed you. You need to be gentle with your body while it does the rest."

Akko said nothing.

"I presume when you lose control of your emotions, this kind of thing will happen." Akko met Diana's eye. "You must stay in control of your emotions, Akko."

Akko nodded.

"Before noting anything else, it should be said that Lotte and the staff found you after you passed out. After Ursula told them all." The brunette felt herself involuntarily clenching her fists, a depth of shame and humiliation rolling over her. "You had some skin torn off from your shoulder, which was dislocated, and a fractured rib. Like I said, I've fixed the worst of it but you need time. Croix contacted me just before you woke up. She said she's found a few things," Diana explained, reaching for her crystal ball. "Shall we discuss it now or do you not want to?"

"As soon as possible," she tiredly grumbled. "Thank you... By the way," she added. "Again."

Diana regarded her thanks with a slight smile in her direction which faded quickly, her eyes trawling over the sphere in her hands which only served as a perpetual reminder that every second not spent experimenting on Akko's samples was a second wasted.

Akko watched silently as Diana brought the crystal ball online. The falling sun cast long and ominous shadows into the room, its otherwise bleak silence broken only by the occasional whirring sound from the sphere. After a brief second of tranquillity, like a moment cast straight from easier times, the ball gave out a beep as Ursula and Croix quickly responded, their faces fading into vision in the sphere.

Croix clearly noticed Akko's bandages and took stock of it, electing not to bring it up.

"Diana," she eventually spoke with a hoarse voice that sounded like late nights and stress.

"What have you got?" Diana pleaded in a tone halfway in between begging and demanding.

"A few things," Croix nodded, light reflecting starkly off her goggles. "And it's all dates and times." Akko frowned. How did that help? She knew it started a few months ago, what else could that provide? "I can get it down to the nearest week or so. Akko contracted vampirism right at the start of October, maybe the end of September," Croix spoke matter-of-factly, pausing to give them time for thought.

End of September, beginning of October... But nothing at all happened during that time! Akko squirmed in irritation, fighting to keep her shoulder still as she racked her brain, feeling obligated to produce something that would clear this up. Judging by Diana's expectant look, Akko figured she didn't know either. Ursula furrowed her brow in thought but in the end, absolutely nothing came of the revelation.

"Right, well there's another thing," Croix spoke up with some disappointment. "Whatever magic caused this all to happen... It's been around for a very, very long time. Thousands of years, I'm not sure specifically how old it is but it's probably been around since before Luna Nova. That means no one cast a spell and caused this. This wasn't created in some freak accident."

"It's been around for..." Diana mumbled, screwing her eyes shut tight. "So why is it only manifesting now?" The skin on her fist was pulled tight over white knuckles.

"It must be an old spell. It must have been lingering somewhere, like a protective curse maybe," Ursula mused.

"Something triggered it," Croix spoke. "I don't have any idea at all what it was. I've ran into a complete roadblock with this investigation," she continued. "I'm sorry. I can't fathom anything else to try."

"But what could have triggered it?" Diana's face was contorted with frustration. "Akko, where did you go during that time?"

"I-I didn't even leave school grounds!" She stuttered under the blonde's harsh gaze.

"I'll get a very thorough sweep of the school," Ursula spoke. "I promise, if there's a dormant curse lingering in any room in this school, I'll find it."

"See to it," the blonde responded sharply. A spike of worry stabbed in Akko at Diana's tone towards her professor, but Ursula's face just disappeared from the ball.

"Origins be damned, I'm going to keep trying to discern what type of curse it is so we can get a cure," Croix broke the silence, signing off and disappearing from the sphere before Diana could respond, clearly not in the mood for her retort.

Akko waited quietly for Diana's next move. She hated the fact that all she could do was watch Diana try to solve her problem. She disdained what it was doing to her. The upcoming dance hadn't crossed her mind once during her growing feelings for Diana. Feelings she was forced to push under the carpet until this was sorted out. Feelings she was afraid she'd lose her chance to express after this was over, let alone have them accepted.

Diana seemed to be flicking back and forth between calming and growing more restless. On her body was painted the effort to calm down and comfort Akko, seized and shoved away by the impulse to shout, stamp and rush out of the room to continue working.

Akko wanted to apologise to Lotte as well. She had looked absolutely mortified.

"It's best you stay here tonight," Diana eventually said. "Or risk healing incorrectly. Akko pouted, an idea coming to her mind.

"Don't vampires have regeneration powers in some stories?"

"Yes, and that's clearly taken effect," Diana gave her a contemplative sideways glance, as if trying to affirm whether she was trying to get out of being stuck in bed. "I can't heal a broken shoulder and rib so easily in such little time. That being said, you don't want to be deformed. So, please..." She closed her eyes, fighting to keep her neutral mask. There was a pause as she steadied herself. "Please," she repeated weakly. "Stay safe."

Akko wanted to reach out and take a hold of the blonde's hands again, which were neatly folded in her lap as ever, but resisted the urge to move her arm even though the pain was only dull. She knew that Diana was, of course, right.

"I'll stay safe."

Diana nodded, turning to her side and briefly rooting through her bag before pulling out a book Akko couldn't make out. She briefly readjusted her posture to sit on the chair with her back straight - at seemingly great effort - and opened the book. Akko was shamelessly watching.

"Ehm, Diana... What are you doing?"

"I can't expect you to lie still on your own all night. It's only just got dark," she explained. Akko's heart heaved in her chest. "I am here with the sole purpose of keeping you entertained so please don't hesitate to draw me from my reading. I won't mind - however, I would imagine that, at the moment, you would appreciate some time to think."

She was right.

"Thank you Diana," she said quietly, almost with some level of reverence towards the blonde sat next to her. With everything Diana did, Akko felt herself falling more in love with her. Her body felt surprisingly relaxed given the dark sky which usually left her pumped with adrenaline. She found it very easy to lie still, probably due to something Diana had done when she was healing her. Under different circumstances, she would have been happy. Ecstatic, even. She and Diana could talk for hours and hours if they wanted to, and they both knew it.

Akko was picturing it - she would jokingly suggest Diana come and sit in the bed next to her but Diana would misinterpret it as a genuine invitation and would hesitantly oblige her, only for the two to get embarrassed amidst the sudden awkwardness of the situation. After some time had passed, Diana would give in and lie back on the bed to continue reading her book and Akko would be too deep in a gay panic to respond in any meaningful way - Diana was exhausted as things were, so soon she would have to rest her eyes, and maybe Akko would dare to snuggle up next to her or maybe even pull the covers over her. Diana would be very hesitant to go along with it but a part of her would be too tired to fight the urge. Of course, there was nothing Akko would want more than for Diana to resign and turn to face her in that moment, holding her close and falling asleep in her embrace but Diana had already accidentally fallen asleep with Akko before in this very room, and she was only apologetic about it. Then again, Diana had been lenient on her and willing to do things with her that she surely wouldn't do with anyone else, like putting up with Akko sleeping on her in the park for three hours in the rain - Akko gulped at the memory - so perhaps Diana would just shrug and fall asleep? Sometimes it was so hard to tell.

Unaware that she had been staring at the blonde longingly for a long time, Akko's lips became a thin line of frustration - even now, when her vampirism was being found out by more and more people, when she had broken down a door and passed out after losing control, causing Diana unimaginable fear for her health and forcing her to stay up all night just to stop her from hurting herself more, all she was thinking about was if she could get Diana to sleep with her. She finally looked away, her longing expression turning to shame and self-abasement.

She was broken out of her thoughts soon as a knock came on the door. Even though it was a sizeable medical wing, Diana and Akko were its sole inhabitants at the moment and the knocker clearly knew that.

"Come in," Diana called.

Akko watched with dread as Ursula stepped into the room, headmaster Holbrooke close behind her. It was all so sudden - they knew she was dangerous now, and they had every right to expel her from the school or at least school grounds until this was cleared up, if it ever was. She might never learn to be a better witch. She might never see her friends, or Chariot, ever again. She might never see Diana again.

The elderly witch closed the door and the two made their way to sit in front of Akko.

"Akko," Holbrooke spoke first. Her usual laid back demeanour was gone, replaced with a stone face. "Ursula has requested I keep this brief, for your sake."

Diana looked up to meet the headmaster's eyes - her expression had forced neutrality, but her aura was fiercely intimidating, as though she wouldn't allow the witch to speak against Akko.

"We have decided to allow your stay in this school."

Diana and Akko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Though there certainly have been differing opinions on the matter. You are going to be permitted to break curfew provided there will be no other rule infractions, and you will not be required to attend any lessons before lunch break. You will, however, complete supplementary work provided by your teachers." Akko stared in amazement and disbelief. "Of course we're going to have to keep a close eye on you and any more violent behaviour may result in a change in these terms. Additionally-" She continued before Ursula not-so-subtly nudged her in the side. She paused. "I'm sorry that this has happened, Akko. I'm ashamed that this began inside our school, no less. We will try to establish where it started. That is all," she finished in a low voice, offering Diana nod before promptly leaving.

Akko offered Ursula a smile.

"Are you feeling alright, Akko?"

"Absolutely fine," she admitted. "It's probably all thanks to Diana."

"Quite," she sighed. "We greatly appreciate your time, Diana."

"Just looking out for a fellow student," the blonde answered, her book neatly shut by her side. "And I... apologise If I was rude at the end of our conversation earlier."

"Don't worry about it. I'll start seeing about searching the school now," Ursula stood, reaching for her wand. Visible sweat glistened on her forehead, her eyes thin with weariness. After the hell of a first year Akko had gone through, she shouldn't have to put up with this.

Akko watched her close the door, her eyelids feeling heavier by the second.

"Whoa, Diana," she slurred. "I'm getting kinda tired. And it's not even eleven o'clock."

Diana placed her book down, nodding.

"I thought so."

"You thought so?" Akko parroted confusedly.

"The healing process must have taken a lot out of you. To be honest, I expected you to be quite exhausted."

"Huh," Akko allowed herself to smile softly, melting in her sheets and feeling like she could just drop asleep any moment despite the rousing night sky. "Why don't we do this every night?" she mumbled.

"It was considerably draining for me as well, not to mention that it took a long time and you were seriously injured before I started. Also you're probably going to be just as tired when you wake up tomorrow," Diana explained.

"Wake up tomorrow," Akko repeated. "Falling asleep before midnight... weird thought," she giggled, suddenly finding herself delirious with tiredness, curling up and pulling the covers tight over her.

"Sleep tight, Akko," Diana whispered, stroking the girl's cheek after another sudden wave of protectiveness. After everything that had happened, seeing the girl revert to her usual dopey self was...

It was just glorious. It was sublime. Akko's sleepy smile, however briefly, took her to heaven and Diana wanted to protect it forever. Her heart leapt with adoration as, despite everything, Akko displayed a robust, sanguine optimism. The girl's smile could move mountains. She was the one who restored magical to the world, after all. Diana grinned widely at Akko, regarding and promptly pushing away the temptation to lie down next to her and soak up her presence in this spontaneous happy moment as best she could.

Instead, she returned to her book, infinitely glad to see Akko so relaxed after the day's events, until she heard the brunette's subtle snores.


	9. Chapter 9

The night had passed without event. After Diana was sure Akko was in deep sleep, she carefully stood and crept silently out of the room, making her way back to her dormitory. It was well past curfew at that point but, needless to say, today was an exception. She passed a number of professors in discussion with each other in hushed voices, who merely offered her solemn nods before she entered her dorm to find Hannah and Barbara asleep.

The night passed, her brief respite after hearing Akko's giggle fading quickly into blackness and flashing images of the girl losing control again. The night passed, several moments seeing Akko wandering off into a forest never to be seen again, where her body was broken and bleeding and Diana wasn't there to help, and many more where she stared at the dark ceiling of her dorm, her heart beating rapidly in fear, wondering if she should go back to sleep at all.

In the morning, she was exhausted. She tried not to let it show throughout the Tuesday lessons, but even she had been caught not paying attention during lessons a few times that day. What was really on her mind was what Croix had told her the day before.

The curse had been around for thousands of years but it only manifested in Akko in late September or early October. There had to be a reason for that. In her time studying as a healer, she had become quite knowledgeable about many forms of curses and they absolutely never just spring up without a good reason to do so. Even the Greenman disease, which Akko had apparently been unfortunate enough to experience the year before, only took place when certain conditions were met, albeit seemingly random ones.

After lessons had ended, she had taken to the school grounds to think. She had read just about every book in the library related to vampirism and curses and had found nothing useful, so she decided instead to distance herself from the school and the other students, some way away from the edge of school grounds, to search her mind and see if she could figure anything out. It had been pounding inside her head, a voice in her mind mocking her for not seeing it and another begging her to do so, so loud that she couldn't hear or focus on anything else. It tore her brain to shreds, demanding her thoughts and attention. Some powerful and furious part of her consciousness allowed her to think only of the possible origins of Akko's curse. Some unnatural manner of misguided stubbornness that ruined her sleep and her studies kept bringing her back to the same place in her mind - the thought of Akko getting more and more hurt. The thought of her losing control or never returning to Luna Nova. The thought of Akko never being in her life.

"Stop it!" She hissed into the barren fields. Dry winds carried taunting whispers across the plains, stabbing at Diana like icicles - she had been walking for a lot longer than she realised, the sky already darkening and the school appearing tiny and insignificant in the distance.

There was a fallen tree nearby her, long dead, that Diana took a seat on, leaning her elbows on her knees and burying her face in her hands, forcing her brain into overdrive.

September to October. Beginning of Autumn. Midway point of the second half of the year. Libra, the Scales. That had no mystic significance for curses. Diana could tell Akko was telling the truth when she said she hadn't left the school grounds in that time, so there must have been something inside of Luna Nova that held a dormant curse. Either that or someone, or something, had been brought into school grounds that held the curse.

Luna Nova had been founded in the 5th century and in all this time, there had never been any mentions of Vampirism on school grounds, neither dormant curses that had lingered since before the school's establishment.

Which meant, most likely, someone had brought something into the school that had cursed Akko?

Her fists were tight. She didn't realise she was trembling in the cold, shrinking tighter and tighter into herself, her senses drowned out by her thoughts. She would find whoever brought the curse upon Akko and she would find out why, even if she had to force the information out of them.

Akko's smile is what brought her life. Akko's laughter was all the joy in her world. Diana had long since had a crush on the girl but she only realised these things when she saw the girl giving a gentle laugh in her hospital bed the night before. After Akko's laugh, Diana left her book completely untouched as she stared at the girl. She was curled up under the duvet, her hair falling all over the bed. Akko's hair was longer than it looked when it was in a ponytail.

Akko was so happy when Diana gave her that hair tie. The simple act of giving a gift brought them both so much joy. She had given that to Akko near the start of the school year and its enchantment had worked ever since.

Diana froze. Her blood literally turned to ice, her skin stone. Her heart stopped beating, her eyes pulled painfully wide. Her world had been plunged into freezing water as she readdressed that thought.

"Shit," she whispered. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

She had given Akko the hair tie near the beginning of the school year. In September, probably towards the end. The man selling it said it was from a new, slightly shady supplier. It was enchanted.

Suddenly light-headed, Diana felt herself falling to her side, knocking her head on the log and landing in the dirt, taking rapid, shallow breaths.

"No..." She whimpered, begging herself to be wrong. "No..." There was no possible alternative. "No..." The hair tie had a heavier magical signature than she had expected for such a trivial enchantment, but she had thought nothing of it. "No..."

It had suddenly dawned on Diana that Akko's vampirism was completely her fault.

Diana Cavendish curled up, grabbing fistfuls of her hair and screamed. She screamed until her voice was hoarse, her lungs burning and her throat searing with pain. Locked in the tortures of her mind she screamed, with a shrill voice, her composure gone, the sounds only carried away by the wind for no one to hear.

  
  
  
  


Akko dizzily shook her head. Diana was right - despite her over 12 hours of sleep, she had been utterly exhausted in the morning and the day had flown by. Everything that happened after lessons was a bit of a blur to her as she rubbed her forehead with her palm, groaning as her vision slowly cleared.

Something wasn't right.

She was in the forest, the sky dark. She was kneeling down on the ground, her hands cold. As her vision cleared slightly, she noticed her hands and knees were very dirty and her uniform scuffed. Her eyes gazed slowly upwards until she saw a rabbit in front of her. It was lying on its side, still as death. Akko frowned, leaning forwards slowly to look closer - she remembered setting out into the forest that afternoon for a reason she couldn't quite place. That's when she saw spots of blood on her hands.

It came back to her vaguely, in bursts that blared against her eyes and ears. Sprinting between the trees, bloodlust emanating from her being. The blood on her hands wasn't her own. That's when she noticed the bloody wound in the rabbit's neck - two clean piercings, the blood sucked out of the messy stained fur, its eyes still desperate with signs of its futile struggle.

Akko staggered backwards, her back quickly meeting a tree. She no longer felt hungry. The rabbit had been her first victim.

She opened her mouth to cry out, only weak stammering leaving her lips. Akko never meant to hurt a soul. She loved rabbits and all that was fluffy and cute. She loved animals and she hated violence and yet... She had completely lost control. She knelt down, clutching her core as she felt bile rising up her throat, memories coming back to her more and more vividly.

Akko had come to the forest as she felt her hunger growing. She had clearly been acting up - Lotte had appeared nervous around her so she distanced herself from her friend. Slowly calming down in the quietness of the forest, the rabbit was betrayed by a brief flash of movement, Akko's blood instantly running thick with adrenaline as she leapt to her feet, her hands twitching.

It never stood a chance.

The forest was damp, tall dark trees twisting into the canopy seeming suddenly more eerie than usual. The scene was filled with a terrifying mist that obscured not the deadly creatures lurking in its depths but Akko herself from whatever might surround her. The sway of the trees in the wind almost sounded like some deep, groaning cry from the forest. A warning for her to leave, that she was no longer welcome.

She saw the rabbit running away and remembered losing herself and sprinting after it, cutting her arms on brambles along the way before grabbing hold of it. She screwed her eyes shut but couldn't block out the images of her pulling its neck towards her mouth as its squeak pierced the air, etching itself into her brain.

Her eyes darted down to her arms, the cuts barely visible as scratches. Raising a finger to her upper jaw, she could feel that her fangs had grown considerably since she had felt them in the library. Kneeling down, Akko wiped her hands against the wet grass until they were eventually washed clean before taking a deep breath that came out shaky. She couldn't trust herself. She was becoming something terrible.

Standing up and setting off at a jog to get away from the forest, she knew she had to find Diana. Nothing else matters. She had to be able to fall into her arms to find comfort.

  
  
  
  


It was only natural that the two ran into each other. Diana looked and felt like an absolute trainwreck. She didn't know how much time had passed but the sky was dark. Though she had cleaned herself up as best she could, her voice was thin and weak, her uniform crumpled and stained with dirt, there was a dark bruise on her forehead and her eyes were dry and red.

Akko didn't notice any of this.

Diana spotted Akko on the edge of the forest, lumbering towards her. She froze, the depths of anguish from which she had just returned scratching at her surface as she saw the impact of her mistake on Akko. Pale skin. Terrified eyes. She looked like she had been through hell and she wouldn't have if Diana had kept her distance.

Her brain would not allow her to tear her eyes away. As much as she wanted to turn and run, she couldn't move. As much as she wanted to comfort Akko, she didn't feel like she had the right to.

Still, when Akko reached her, she wrapped her arms around Diana and buried her head in her chest with such force the blonde staggered backwards. Transfixed and confused, she could only stare as Akko sobbed, her grip on Diana's chest tight.

There was blood on her mouth.

Oh god, there was blood on her mouth.

"Akko, what happened?" She asked, her eyes travelling down to the hair tie that loosely held the girl's hair together. Diana stared daggers into it with blind abhorrence, swearing she could feel it staring back. Akko shook her head, only continuing to sob. With sweat building on her brow, Diana could feel her mistake crawling on her skin wherever Akko touched her, sickening her to the core. "Akko, please," she said weakly.

"I l-lost control," Akko eventually sobbed, looking up to meet her eyes where instead of finding calm, loving blue eyes she found cold, terrified ones. Diana could feel Akko trembling - for once, she felt frail and vulnerable. Every nervous shiver or jitter from Akko increased Diana's self-loathing. "I killed an animal. I..." her voice cracked and she paused. "I took its blood..."

"Akko, I've got you," Diana forced herself to say though her tongue was tying itself in knots, her words hollow. As much as she wanted it to be true, she feared she may never be able to look her in the eye again. She would have to explain it to Ursula and Croix. And the whole school. If news of Akko's vampirism got out, the public would find out it was her fault... She would have to explain it to Akko.

"Diana, I'm scared..." She whimpered. Diana stroked her hair, words dying on her tongue as she racked her brain for a response.

I would be better to tell Akko sooner than later, but truth be told, Diana was terrified. How would Akko respond? She knew Akko wouldn't blame her, normally. It was quite clear to Diana that the girl saw few faults in her and would claim it was a mistake and the two would get over it together. Of course, Diana could have bought Akko a more expensive gift from a properly branded enchanted items shop. She could have checked its enchantment more thoroughly, where she surely would have noticed something off about it.

But that would be normal Akko. Diana knew that her aggressive tendencies were being bolstered through the ceiling, even though she knew Akko was fighting it with all she had. She wouldn't want to tell Akko this, as it might just crush her, but she was growing slightly cautious of her. Her eyes travelled to the hair tie again, tempted to grab it from Akko's hair and explain what had happened.

Diana was a second away from telling Akko. She could feel her jaw open, her brain resigned to break the news and face the consequences, before Akko squeezed her again and she froze.

Now was not a good time to tell her.

At this point, the two of them were much closer to school grounds and Diana saw a bench just beside them.

"Akko, let's sit down," she suggested. Akko nodded. Whatever was going through Diana's head, what mattered was that Akko still trusted her and sought comfort in her. It was only right for Diana to provide. Diana took a seat on the bench, adjusting herself and fighting to regain her composure - her shivering had stopped, her eyes slightly calm.

Akko was to her side, leaning over and holding tight onto her torso, leaning against her chest. Diana was getting cold but Akko probably wasn't bothered. She had never seen Akko so terrified in her life. For a moment, wrapping her arms around Akko, Diana was reminded in a bittersweet moment of the time Akko had fallen asleep on her in the park. It had given her hope and courage. Hope that her attraction towards the girl might be mutual, and courage to ask her what had made her so upset in the library - only for Akko to have to lie to her to spare her from what she herself had brought about.

Then there was the time Lotte had decided to drag everyone outside, Akko included. Of course, it wasn't Lotte's fault. When Akko had screamed and recoiled from the sunlight, Diana almost had a heart attack. After Diana had healed her, Akko had thanked her. Akko had thanked her so much.

"Don't thank me," Diana mouthed, shaking her head. "Don't say thank you, this is my fault," she pleaded in her head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Akko," she silently confessed, holding the other girl tighter to her body, as if another single mistake from her would cause her to lose Akko.

Try as she might, that evening, Diana could not bring herself to tell Akko that it was her fault. Neither had kept track of time but eventually they were both emotionally exhausted and freezing, with cheeks plastered with dried tears and weak muscles.

"Akko..." Diana hesitantly began, gripping the bench hard as she shakily rose to her feet. Her forehead had a dull throb from where she had hit it on the log, her arms scratched from various twigs and brambles on the ground. Akko jumped up with no such effort and Diana could only assume that, given what she had done that evening, she was in prime physical condition. "I'm exhausted. I need-"

"O-oh." Diana paused as the disappointed sound left Akko's lips, pulling painfully at her heart. "Sorry... I didn't mean to keep you," Akko said quietly. The two were plunged into a tangible silence, deeply, unashamedly and longingly staring into each other's eyes in a brief moment of mesmerization.

Then another flash of hesitance from them both - the moment was broken and Akko had nodded, disappearing in a flash into the darkness surrounding the school.

If she was seen awake at this time, Diana would be in trouble. She couldn't use Akko as an excuse.

Diana let out a quiet whistle, listening to it disappear into the distance as the chilly air bit into her skin. With no sound to ease her mind but the distant howling, it was indeed dark, quiet and truly lonely. If she could put aside the occasional spark of fear that a closeby bush rustling ignited in her, it would just feel desolate.

And this was Akko's life now.

Despite her drooping eyelids and the undue pleasant feeling when Diana melted into her bed, sleep evaded her. She tried to remind herself it was a school morning and that she had to rest to fix her grades that were suddenly threatening to fall below first place, but to no effect. Only the memory, burnt straight into her mind, of Akko holding onto her for comfort from the hurt that Diana herself had inflicted, blared in her brain like a siren. She wished she could have never found out where it had all began.

She gripped her bedframe hard, massaging her sore throat and moaned in frustration. Not a single other thought had entered her mind since she had realised. She tried reading course material and research papers but nothing would shut down the fried nerves of her brain. She could almost imagine Akko sat outside her window now, her calloused fingers idly probing its cold, hard surface, perched carefully on the narrow windowsill under the light drizzle, shivering in her damp uniform. Diana couldn't see a thing through the blackness of her window but, because of her lamp she had lit next to her, Akko would be able to see her.

Diana grit her teeth, turning off her lamp and burying herself under her covers, trying again to get to sleep.

No such luck.

Her eyes lazily trawled over the window, that same thought repeating itself in her mind as she saw a flicker of movement in the blackness. Without her lamp on it became far easier to see outside, where she saw a dark, clouded sky. At this point the rainfall was barely noticeable, quiet enough for her to hear Hannah's and Barbara's quiet breathing.

It was 3:51 and she could tell she wasn't getting to sleep any time soon, so she hesitantly sat up and placed her feet into her slippers, slowly standing and trundling towards her window. It felt hot and stuffy and she needed some fresh air.

Diana carefully undid the lock on her window and gave it a small push - only for it to offer more resistance than she had expected as well as giving off a surprised yelp. Diana's eyes widened as her window fell open and she leaned forwards, only to see a figure hanging off the edge of the windowsill giving her a guilty expression.

"H-hey Diana," Akko mumbled. Diana stared.

"Akko, what on Earth are you doing?" She whispered, reaching out to help Akko climb up.

"I - I, well, ehm... I was just," she began, taking Diana's hand and almost pulling the blonde out through the window as she pulled herself up. "Sorry," she mumbled, taking a seat in the open window with her back to the night sky, her eyes picking up every subtlety of the girl in front of her.

Akko was fighting her brain to find something meaningful with which to fill the silence before Diana cleared her throat, stepping towards Akko until there was barely a foot between them.

“Akko.” Her voice was weak and tentative, almost as if she was hoping Akko wouldn’t hear. Something felt wrong.

“What’s up?” Akko asked.

“I…” Diana screwed her eyes shut. “Akko, I know where your vampirism came from,” she whispered in such a hurry that Akko barely caught it, glancing nervously to her side. Akko followed her eyes to see her sleeping roommates who were conveniently far away from the window.

Then her words struck the brunette.

“Y-you know?” She whispered, leaning forwards as her hands clamped hard onto the surface she was sat on, feeling her energy being spurred on by the night and her patience dwindling faster than it normally would.

“Akko,” Diana repeated in a coarse whisper, screwing her eyes shut, her jaw tense and lips pressed together.

Akko waited, a hideous nagging feeling erupting after a few second of waiting as she curled her fists.

“Well? Wha-”

“It was my fault.”

The world was suddenly holding its breath, everything apart from their conversation unimportant.

“It was…” Akko said slowly, biting her lip and tilting her head backwards. “What?” She repeated slightly more loudly in a low tone.

“It was the hair tie.. The hair tie is cursed. It’s… the only possibility. It’s...” Diana continued to nervously explain herself, her expression growing more and more afraid as she saw Akko’s unreadable expression. Her words bounced straight off Akko’s head, who barely registered she was talking as she fought to sit still. The calm part of her mind was being gripped and roughly pulled out of its position and Akko felt herself watching her actions as if she wasn’t the one in control. Blood red streaked across her vision as her face contorted in rage. Any rational part of her had long been completely shut down as her vampiric predatory instinct took over. Diana had betrayed her.

Her eyes darted to meet Diana’s as she stumbled forwards to stand, grabbing the hair tie and painfully yanking it from her head along with some of her hair. She stood shaking in her spot, with her fist tight around the cursed item with wide eyes, only to see Diana standing her ground, despite the terror in her eyes.

“You!” Akko eventually hissed, raising her hand above her head and taking a janky step forwards. “YOU!” She fully shouted, throwing it as hard as she could at the blonde, biting hard into her cheek as Diana stumbled back, clutching her temple where it had hit her.

“A-Akko, please, it’s four o-”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT!” She screamed, registering Hannah and Barbara scrambling about their beds to grab their wands and turn the light on. “DIANA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

“I - I didn’t… I…”

“YOU DID THIS?!”

Diana’s dorm mates were at her sides, pointing their wands at Akko, shouting something that Akko couldn’t make out.

“Akko, I’m sorry-”

“AND WHAT?” Akko asserted, falling to her knees as Diana took another step backwards.

There was a bright light - dancing at the ends of the girls’ wands were dazzling orbs of fire, aggressively trying to break free and shoot straight towards Akko. Diana, tears in her eyes, was now completely petrified and didn’t even persuade her dorm mates to lower their wands.

Akko hissed some monstrous sound, rumbling from the back of her throat, the last semblance of consciousness inside her desperate not to hurt Diana as she heard rapid footsteps in the corridor. Through the door burst the familiar professor uniform - with a gathering mass of students in the corridor trying to see what was happening, Finnelan and Ursula were both out of breath, reaching for their wands the moment they saw what was happening.

Akko shouted again, punching the floor in rage and shattering the boards, leaving an imprint of her fist in the concrete. In one swift movement, she turned around and leapt for the window, landing unceremoniously on the grass two floors below. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her legs, she darted, once again, into the forest.


	10. Chapter 10

"Akko!" Diana shouted as loudly as she could, the time of day unimportant to her as she dashed to her window only to see movement disappearing into the forest. The last few seconds had been a hell that had passed in a blur. Diana was left disoriented, demented and shaken to her core. Just as suddenly as everything had started, there came a long silence.

Diana could hear her heartbeat pounding through her ears, taking care to slow her breathing as she turned around and addressed her situation. Finnelan had left the room to address all of the students in the corridor, leaving just Hannah, Barbara and Ursula staring nervously at her.

"Oh god," she whispered, sitting down on the sofa and holding her hands out in front of her, staring at her palms. "What have I done?"

The others in the room put away their wands. Hannah and Barbara turned briefly to Ursula, who grimaced and waited for Diana.

_ You did this _ , Akko had said.

Diana groaned, massaging her stinging temple. Something as light as a hair tie really shouldn't have hurt that much. The only sound was Finnelan's hushed words from outside and quiet footsteps as the students were ordered to return to their rooms.

"Diana," Ursula said quietly, kneeling down in front of her and breaking her from her trance. "Are you okay?"

Diana balled her fists.

"It doesn't matter." She answered. "Stop asking me that. You can ask me after we've cured Akko." Hannah and Barbara shared a glance, shivering in the cold. "I couldn't sleep. I opened the window and Akko was there-"

"On the windowsill?" Ursula asked.

"Yes, on the windowsill," Diana spat. "Then we talked and I told her something and she didn't... take it well." There was a pause. Of course, they wanted to know what she had told Akko.

"So..." Hannah hazarded.

"Hannah, pass me that hair tie please," Diana instructed, pointing to where it had landed near the table.

The girl nodded, quickly kneeling to pick it up and holding it out for Diana. Diana glared at the object, plucking it from Hannah's hand and gripping it like she was trying to crush it. Her dorm mates stared in bafflement as she took deep breaths, uncharacteristically leaning her head back and groaning again.

"Diana," Ursula said again with a slightly more firm tone as Finnelan came back into the room, closing the door behind her and nodded to the other professor. "Do you know something that Croix and I don't?"

Diana's breath hitched as she turned back to the window, hoping not to arouse suspicion.

"We'll discuss this later, Professor," she spoke calmly, reacquiring her neutral mask. "I'm sorry for the disturbance I've caused."

"Diana, Akko is going to be the one held responsible for this," Finnelan sighed. "This is disastrous, if only for how the school is going to be forced to treat Akko." There was a silence.

"I understand," Diana nodded.

"Try to get some sleep, girls. I understand if you're unsettled but this isn't a reason to break curfew," Finnelan cleared her throat before turning to leave. Ursula walked behind her but paused at the door to address the girls.

"Please get some sleep. I can see the bags under your eyes." With that, she was gone and the door was closed.

"Diana, tell us you're good," Barbara said quickly, sitting down beside her, Hannah on the other.

"We were so scared for you, we didn't wanna hurt her but-"

"I appreciate it," Diana cut her off, though something about her tone suggested she wasn't telling the truth. "Probably best you didn't hit her with that spell."

Hannah and Barbara gulped.

"I'm sorry you two had to wake up like that. It can't have been pleasant."

"Can't have been pleasant for us?" Barbara scoffed. "Well what about for y-"

"Please." Diana wasn't sure why she cut Barbara off. She did appreciate their concern but it wasn't what she needed to hear at the moment. "Girls, if you can, you should get some sleep. We can all put this behind us and hope that Akko comes to her senses soon."

The two shared another nervous glance.

"And she will," Diana insisted. "Now get back in your beds."

Diana waited as the two nodded, stood up and scurried back to their areas like children who had been told off. Now using her wand to levitate the hair tie in front of her, Diana slowly stood up. There would be no point in waiting for her dorm mates to fall asleep before leaving the room - they probably wouldn't be surprised at her actions anyway.

After getting changed back into her uniform, Diana threw on her robe and gave her friends a quick glance before carefully pushing open her door to find a conveniently empty corridor. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't sure what to expect if she ran into Akko again. The girl had been thrown into a fit of blind rage - all her control taken from her as she sunk into the blackness - and could emerge from any shadow Diana wasn't looking at. She would likely have calmed down after some time and Diana would be able to talk some sense into her, but after what she had just been through it was difficult not to be alert. 

Holding her wand close, she paused and listened carefully at every creak and scuttle she heard as she traversed the school on her way back to Lukić's potions classroom.

It was a good a place as any to do her work - plenty of resources, thick walls, far from the dormitories, all sorts of magical enchantments that most other rooms didn't have. Carefully keeping the hair tie in a sealed magic bubble floating along behind her, she stepped into the classroom again and closed the door, not slowing down as the room's smells hit her.

Diana dropped the hair tie onto a work surface, leaning forwards and closing her eyes for a moment to try to be rid of her sudden, pounding headache.

She would disenchant it.

Akko may have been just one of the many victims of its curse and its brief life with Akko had caused so much misery, driving an enormous wedge between the two of them. The two had effectively gone on a date a few months ago. At this point, assuming Akko wanted to be in a relationship with her, were it not for the hair tie, Diana was confident that the two of them would be dating at this point. She and Akko could meet each other in the corridor and share a quick kiss, or waste evenings together cuddling in her dorm laughing about nothing in particular or watching old cartoons. But more importantly than Diana's wish was Akko herself. They could both see what she was becoming and it terrified both of them.

With this in mind, Diana raised her wand and scoured her mental encyclopedia for every dispel she could think of.

With the first spell she cast, she recognised a vague reaction from the hair tie but it was far from done. Sparks danced across the room with lights blaring into each dark corner and strange whispers floating through the air for the next few hours - with each new spell Diana cast, the hair tie grew weaker but she was constantly reminded of the futility of her task - the curse had already taken place on Akko. It was too late. Multitudes of ingredients and potions lay used and scattered around the surface, the sky already bright as day. Was there even any point?

"Please," she begged, raising her wand above her head and gripping it tightly. She could feel the last of her fleeting magic reserves slipping from her and, despite the magic in the air from Croix's technology and the Sorcerer's stone, she was strained and in pain - but through her whole morning's struggle, she had felt the item grow weaker and weaker - a crack of light in the darkness as she felt its essence on the verge of crumbling.

Diana shouted in frustration, carelessly casting the final spell she could think of at the hair tie. She thinned her eyes as a violent golden beam arked from her wand towards the heavy stone table and slammed into it, carving out a chunk of it and uprooting it from the ground with an ear-splitting crack as it was thrown across the room, smashing into the opposite wall with colossal force and leaving a deep, black crevice. The sound of humming metal filled the room, smoke rising from her target as the whole area became charged with static electricity - a wake of toppled work stations and broken glass between Diana and the broken brickwork of the wall.

She took a moment to catch her breath and absorb some of the school's magic, her own reserves thoroughly strained and overused. She clutched her core, leaning against the table behind her and coughed as bleak sunlight invaded her eyes.

It was gone. The hair tie had been destroyed, its enchantment with it. Diana could feel that it was gone. But had she even achieved anything? 

Then she heard pounding footsteps outside. Only then did she realise it was under ten minutes until lessons would begin.

"By the Nine, what happened in - Diana?" Came a shocked elderly voice. Diana's head spun around to see the door open, Professor Lukić stood behind it with a handful of early students behind her.

It was as it the corridor cast an incriminating floodlight onto Diana, who was kneeling, flustered like a deer caught in headlights as her brain registered the cracked wall and the growing number of stares.

"Diana?" Lukić repeated, stepping into the classroom.

"Please excuse me," Diana spoke promptly, picking herself up and dusting herself off. Raising her wand once again, she focused herself and once again summoned all the magic she could, reciting the spell to rewind time.

"Scrylla... Yera Retroure!" She shouted, her voice weak and her spell stuttering and faltering before, surprisingly, Lukić pulled out her wand and quickly joined in with the spell. With only a confused expression, the elderly professor watched the crack in the wall seal itself shut and the table reform its bonds with the floor, a similar deafening cracking sound heard before all the glass pulled itself back together and everything was restored to its previous neat fashion, the swirling commotion of sounds in the air coming to another sudden stop.

"Professor..." Diana murmured, acutely aware of the other students' gazes transfixed on her as well of that of the teacher. "I deeply apologise," she offered while bowing. "I was practising early and I appear to have lost some control," she lied, silently begging for the professor to at least not query her further in front of the class.

There was an eerie silence before the professor sighed.

"Very well, Diana. I trust you have your reasons. Now come in and sit down, everyone."

Diana nodded and weakly sat down, staring daggers into the desk as the chill of the air sunk into her. Her dorm mates would probably be among the early crowd. Sucy too, since it was potions class.

She was right - and Lotte by Sucy's side. Of course, Akko wasn't present. The distinct lack of her noise and smile made Diana's stomach curl with dread, her fingers subtly curling and uncurling as she stared at the door, fully aware that in any case Akko wouldn't attend lessons until the afternoon anyway.

"Diana?" Barbara quietly asked from beside her.

"I'll explain later," Diana answered quickly, unwilling to talk about the events of the night before.

Swallowing her nervousness, Diana tried to pay attention throughout the whole morning of lessons, keeping a vigilant eye out for Akko - though, after a particularly restless lunch break, Diana saw no signs of the girl. After the end of the day's lessons, no sign of Akko. Even as the afternoon progressed, until the day's light began to fade, no sign of Akko.

Returning to her dorm from the library with her dorm mates at her side, Diana breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw Lotte and Sucy walking down the corridor together

"Have you seen Akko?" Diana quickly asked the two, powerwalking to catch up with them in the corridor.

"Yes, she was asleep in our dorm through the afternoon lessons." Sucy monotoned. "She was gone when we checked a few minutes ago though."

"D-did something happen?" Lotte asked, pausing in the corridor and prompting Sucy to reluctantly do the same.

Diana nodded grimly. She would have to tell people eventually that it was all her fault, or they'd all be left thinking there was a vampirism threat still in the school. The events of the last 24 hours were all blurring in her head - this was a serious matter and there were probably going to be repercussions, though it hadn't happened long ago so perhaps the staff were still discussing it.

"I need to find her as soon as possible," Diana stated, leaving Hannah and Barbara just as confused as Lotte and Sucy.

It was getting close to evening at this point but could Diana march up to Akko and talk to her, only to hope for a better outcome? It would mean missing a study session too. Could Diana risk making more of a scene? Would everyone hate her when they found out-

"Diana."

Diana locked up, clamping her jaw and looking up. Surprisingly, the one to break her out of her thoughts was Sucy.

"Tell us what's going on," she continued. Lotte and both Hannah and Barbara were all looking at her expectantly with pleading eyes. "We're close to Akko too."

The blonde's eye twitched, the fears in her mind grasping at her before fading to black. She couldn't deny her friends forever.

"Then I will explain," she mumbled, scanning the corridor cautiously before turning to the door behind her. "Come in here," she ordered, gesturing towards an empty classroom.

After entering the room and closing the door, they made their way to the back off the room where they took chairs and sat down in a semicircle facing Diana. She felt more like she was on trial than anything else.

"I have recently found out the cause of Akko's vampirism." She took a breath. She was going to have to get used to saying this. "It came from a magical item I bought for her as a gift at the beginning of the year. The hair tie."

A dead silence fell through the room. Hannah and Barbara stared in disbelief. Lotte was mortified, her mouth hung open, and Sucy looked like she was biting back rage.

"Yesterday evening... Early this morning, rather," Diana continued, "The two of us were speaking in my dorm room, and I told her about the hair tie, a-and... She must have lost control because she... didn't take it well, and..." She stammered, clutching her temple where she was hit by the sudden sting of where the hair tie had hit her just as she was hit by the sting of the memory. All of the rage from the girl she adored so much was painful just to recall. "And when Ursula and Finnelan arrived in our room, she just... Jumped out of the window and..."

"She jumped out your window?!" Lotte cried.

"The fall was fine, as it seemed. She was perfectly... able to get up and disappear into the forest immediately afterwards."

"So you're telling me..." Sucy said darkly. Diana cringed, readying herself for the girl's anger at her enormous mistake in cursing Akko. "That you didn't go after her?" Diana paused.

"Huh? S-sucy, she jumped down-"

"And you don't know a single levitation spell?" Sucy cut her off.

"Sucy, please, we were shocked," Barbara tried to defend her friend.

"Who knows what the hell she'll do if the last time she saw you she was that distressed?" Sucy muttered, then paused. "I'm glad you told us."

"That explains why she wasn't in our room in the morning," Lotte gripped the chair she was sat on. "We only found her there during lunch break. A-and now she's gone again, Diana, we've got to go find her!"

"Yes, I had figured that much," Diana bit her cheek to stop herself from saying anything worse. "But if last time... I mean, what can I say to her? She wasn't in control, she hates me now, she probably doesn't want to see my face-"

"Her relationship with you is more important than her relationship with anyone else here!" Lotte cried. "What are you talking about, she'll listen to you any time!"

"L-Lotte? What do you mean?" Diana stammered.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Lotte asserted, glaring at the blonde.

Diana was turning red. It wasn't just a suspicion - she did know what Lotte meant. What a stupid time to be caught up in gushing romantic feelings.

"Diana?" Hannah asked.

"Dammit, you're right," Diana huffed. "Go on back to our dorm. I'm going to find Akko," she decided, standing up.

"H-hold on, we're coming with you!" Barbara stood up too, Hannah with her.

"Mhm," Lotte nodded before Diana shook her head.

"No. I don't need your help." There was a long silence. "Sorry. What I mean is... I know how to find someone using spells. And as Lotte correctly identified, this is between me and her." She paused. "Please."

While Lotte, Hannah and Barbara were stood in shocked silence, Sucy stood up.

"Well, good luck," she offered before turning to the door.

"Sucy?" Lotte asked.

"You heard her," Sucy answered. "We wouldn't help Diana and Akko by standing around and watching them talk," she added before walking up to the door and opening it. All the bustle in the coridor had long since faded.

"If you're sure," Barbara sighed, making her way towards the door.

"Good luck, Diana," Hannah offered before stepping through with Sucy and Barbara. Only Lotte lingered at the door, meeting Diana's eyes like a protective father.

"Be good to her, Diana," she pleaded.

"I will. With every fibre of my being."

And with that, Lotte was gone.

Diana sighed, sinking into the corner of the room. She didn't know quite what was going through her mind at the time - it was the culmination of all her feelings building up since the start of the year - both her terror at Akko's worsening condition and her undeniable feelings for the girl.

Curfew was already, once again, rapidly approaching as she tried to calm her breathing. Sucy had told her that Akko had fallen asleep in her dorm room since the day before. Surely she would have calmed down by now. All Diana had to do was find her and reconcile with her, and she knew that Akko had an inexorable disinclination towards holding grudges and staying bitter. Having been awake for so long, many different emotions were merging in her brain until she didn't know whether she was more sad or excited, or what her real intention was in seeking out Akko that evening.

"Määrittele tila," Diana spoke, firmly waving her wand through the air and closing her eyes to focus on the spell as subtle glowing wisps began to circle her in the air, a strand of Akko's hair in her other hand. Locating another person entirely by magic was a high level and complicated spell and, in her state of exhaustion, Diana began to wish that she hadn't pushed away the help from her dorm mates.

Even so, she focused until her mind shook and her hand trembled as something finally seemed to click into place in her mind - she couldn't say where Akko was, but she knew where to go to find her.

Disturbed by the ambience of moonlight illuminating trails from the windows into the corridor and the sudden rainfall, Diana walked through corridors which seemed suddenly darker than usual. Following a stream of subconscious instructions, Diana ascended a staircase and found Luna Nova's interior gliding past in the edge of her mind as she walked as silently as she could so to not alert Akko to her presence, finally coming face to face with a door to another unused classroom.

She peeked carefully through the crack through the door that had been left ajar, taking in the room. Stood by the opposite wall was Akko. She looked restless despite her eerie stillness with skin growing increasingly pale and her haunting red eyes glowing in vivid scarlet. In one hand she held a small, circular mirror, staring in disbelief at her complete lack of reflection, her other hand trailing over the top of her jaw and confirming her fangs that had grown noticeably longer.

Whether or not she was already distressed, Diana had to talk to her. Things would only get worse until she did.

Taking a slow, measured breath, Diana straightened herself out and pushed the door open.


	11. Chapter 11

The door swung easily open and everything stopped.

Akko had spun around and in an instant the two had met eyes, holding their positions and daring not to move as the whole world stood still and silent. Moonlight that was no longer bleak but oddly beautiful shone through the windows, carrying a spectrum of emotions in its mystic blue, reflecting brightly off Akko's eyes.

With her feet rooted to the ground, Diana felt a burden ease from her mind like a drop of sunlight touching her soul - her chest felt light and she felt like crying out or laughing, but she remained frozen, an expression of awe, confusion, tiredness, guilt and adoration gleaming from her eyes. Akko stared back, her suffering eyes not dulled by the pooling of moisture below them but meeting Diana's and getting lost in the moment, as if finally understanding something, sharing all the blonde's emotions.

Diana could almost feel Akko's heart beating in her chest. It was like the whole world had been between them and had suddenly disappeared but they never even realised it was there. When neither had a clue what was going through their own minds, they could feel what the other was feeling before realising they were feeling the same. Neither paid any heed to the chill of the air, nor the muffled rainfall on the roof above them, nor the distinct scent old wood and fresh parchment about the room, robbed of any acknowledgement of the world around them by some sudden cascade of self-recognition.

Diana found herself inside the room, the sound of the door quietly closing behind her breaking her out of her trance as she remembered how tired her eyes were and how sore her legs were. Despite this, now that she was in front of Akko she couldn't remember how to open her mouth to speak, even if she knew what to say.

Fresh tears appeared in the brunette's eyes as a shiver ran through her body and shook her back to alertness.

The two could only stand and stare for so long.

"I'm..." Diana's voice left her mouth and it was inaudible, a weak whisper through her constricted throat. "I'm sorry," she managed, her quivering quiet voice pooling with weakness.

"No," Came Akko's voice, weighted down with melancholy along with her slumped shoulders. "Please." Akko took a deep breath. "Don't take responsibility for this. Don't act as though... this is all your fault..." There was a choking heaviness in her tone that forced her to pause several times. "Don't... accept the blame."

The blonde opened her mouth to complain, only lacking the resolve to dispute this and cast her eyes to the floor.

"Listen to me!" Akko's voice suddenly cut through the air like thunder and spread like a ripple through Diana, startling her to look up and meet the deep red gaze again. "You're not allowed to blame yourself because you'll only break! You can't act like it was your fault, I won't let you!" She hissed, her fists tight.

Diana's manic mind had slowed down, intently listening to each word Akko had to say instead of ignoring those which declared her innocence. If she came here to communicate, why wasn't she listening? How was it that Akko had more to say than her? Somehow she found herself devoid of all the expectations she had set on herself before entering, stripped of her apology by the girl she wanted to apologise to.

"But, Akko..." Diana spoke slowly. "I still feel guilty," she stated simply. "I feel so, so guilty. Oh God, Akko-"

"I know." Diana looked up to see Akko's eyes averted from her, drilling themselves into the corner of the room. "I know because if things were the other way round and you had been cursed I would feel guilty too. I would feel so guilty that I... I, I wouldn't want to live with myself anymore." They both stopped as her words sunk in. "So that's why I'm telling you that by my authority you're not allowed to feel guilty because you never knew this would happen!"

Again they met eyes and, unperturbed by Diana's evident struggle to find the right words, Akko continued.

"I'm sorry that I lost control. You've only been good to me and I never should have lashed out at you, and I never hated you and... And I... I'm sorry for scaring you."

"Akko... It wasn't you, it was the... Look, you weren't yourself then. What if I told you that you weren't allowed to feel guilty either?"

She had tried to level the field before Akko looked up again and Diana's eyes were filled with Akko's - magnificent striking red that was corrupted by a vicious crimson glow that only made them more striking. Pools of red that once looked like love but now screamed of aggression that Diana refused to hate.

"Diana, I threw the hair tie at you so hard that-"

"And I destroyed it," Diana asserted, finally taking pride in the fact. "It's the hair tie's fault, not yours, so it doesn't exist anymore and you do."

A slight smile made its way across Akko's face.

Diana took a shaky step towards Akko, resting her hands on a chair as she faltered.

"Diana!" Akko cried, suddenly in front of Diana and helping to support her weight. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay! Now... Now that..." She trailed off as Diana leaned on her, her voice shaking with fear.

"I'm okay, Akko," Diana affirmed calmly. "I just haven't slept."

"O-oh..."

"But we agreed not to feel guilty for each other, right?" Diana asked slowly, offering a smile.

"It's hard. It's... It's so hard not to..."

"As it is for me," Diana breathed out, wrapping her arms around the girl's torso. It was such a relief to finally talk so openly.

"And I... I'm so afraid..." Akko sobbed. It shot a spike of ice through Diana's heart as Akko grabbed onto Diana's shoulders and revealed her pained expression again. "I don't know if that is going to become the normal way to behave... I don't know if we could keep being with each other if that happened... I don't know if the vampirism is peaking or if this is just the beginning and it's gonna get much worse..."

"Akko..."

"Diana, what's going to happen about when I lashed out at you? Th-there were teachers there, they could kick me out of the school, a-and then I'll be out somewhere without you, and I'll only get worse, and I might not just attack animals, what if... What if..."

"Akko," Diana pleaded, stroking the back of her head in an attempt to soothe her as her breaths grew faster and shallower, her voice composure completely collapsing.

"What if I kill someone? Like, murdered, they're dead, and it's my fault? What am I supposed to do if I end up killing you?"

"That won't happen!" Diana insisted, holding Akko as tightly as she could. "I promise! I promise... that won't ever happen... By my word, I won't let that happen..."

"But you can't be responsible for me every minute of your life!"

Diana sighed quietly, pausing for thought in the other girl's arms before something caught her eye through the window.

"See there," Diana pointed. Akko hesitantly let go and turned around, following her finger. "It's the Big Dipper. The seven words of Arcturus." Akko seemed to be taken in, transfixed by the sight as she slowly stepped towards the window. "The seven words of Arcturus that you unlocked. Not me. The two of us... We saved the world, Akko. We saved the world, so we can save ourselves."

Akko was silent, stood close to the window now, silhouetted against the moonlight as Diana slowly walked up beside her.

"And..." Diana began, trying to decipher the many words and phrases dancing on her tongue. The many different confessions she had spent study time pouring her thoughts over. The many different ways to say 'I love you', or the ways she could express how much Akko meant to her. She wanted Akko to know that she was her entire world - that since her appearance at Luna Nova she had always challanged Diana to discover new things about the world and her self - that after they rode the Shooting Star together into the stratosphere, Diana's life was shot with colour and found a completely new meaning - that every day she got up in the morning and was secretly excited to go to the canteen just so she could see Akko smile.

"Diana..." Akko lifted her from her thoughts. "I love you."

Diana's heart stopped. She had said it so clearly, with so much conviction, despite the sudden redness of her face. Akko had turned to face Diana, who was frozen in place, and was tentatively reaching out a hand towards her. She stared with wide eyes as Akko slowly closed the distance between them until they were inches apart, the girl's hand burying itself in her hair behind her head. Something about it was surreal and, only when she saw Akko looking nervously and expectantly at her, did she realise she needed to respond.

"Akko...?" Her voice ghosted from her mouth. "You do?"

With her lips nervously pressed together, Akko, the object of Diana's infatuation, could only nod.

"I..." Diana's brain was in meltdown as her eyes darted around, her fingers clawing against her sides.

"A-and if that's not okay," Akko stuttered, "I mean, um, you can ignore me, I'll... I mean, just pretend that didn't happen-"

"Akko," Diana cut her off.

Her hand brushed against Akko's and their digits found their way in between each other, her delicate touch becoming a grip with which she held on to her whole life. The two stood, transfixed once again but far closer to one another as the fire in Akko's eyes grew and grew. 

"I was meaning to say that to you."

"H-huh?" Akko squeaked.

"Oh, Akko... I love you. So much. I love you so much," Diana couldn't suppress a giggle as Akko, in turn, froze.

"You do...?"

As Diana was still processing what had been said between them, she sensed Akko growing suddenly agitated, the lovestruck look in her eyes turning to intensity. Behind her adoring expression was a sinister undertone of hunger. The softness of her embrace was gone, replaced with a hand on her hip that was abruptly pushing her backwards, hard.

"Akko?" Diana grunted as her back hit the wall.

But her words were unnoticed as the Japanese witch was suddenly upon her, leaving her no space to breathe, a sharp pain flaring in her neck.

"A-Ak-" She stammered hopelessly, grabbing the vampire's shoulders forcibly, digging her nails into the fabric as her eyes widened. She felt completely devoid of the fortitude to fight back as her legs became weak, the hiss of pain she was feeling not coming to her mouth - instead accidentally letting out a long, breathy moan, shuddering from the sting as she felt Akko's body pushing harder against her own.

"Akko," she begged, her head tilting backwards as her previous light-headedness grew tenfold. At this point she was being held up by Akko and the wall, her claw-like grip fading from Akko's shoulders until her arms fell unceremoniously to her sides.

Then Akko was done and Diana felt herself sliding down the wall as the pressure of Akko's body against hers was gone. Some small part of her felt vaguely disappointed as she squinted upwards through her blurry vision to see Akko standing over her, an expression of mixed exhilaration and concern on her face, a trail of blood and saliva hanging from her teeth.

Both remained as they were for some time, recovering their breath in an air of high tension. Diana was strangely excited, trying to ignore the electrifying flame in her core as they once again met eyes. Suddenly, Akko's eyes widened.

"Diana!" She yelled, falling to her knees in front of the girl and crawling towards her until she was on top of her, her palms on the floor and their legs entwined. "D-Diana, are you okay?" She panicked, raising one palm to gently touch the bite marks in the girl's neck. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," Diana's voice was barely a whisper, raising an arm to take hold of Akko's hand then letting it fall back to the ground with hers. "This will happen."

"B-but, Diana-"

"This will happen." Diana paused.

"Aren't you already really tired? O-or unwell, should I take you to the hospital?"

"No, I assure you," Diana slurred, dancing on the edge of consciousness. "I just need sleep... Time to recover... And replace lost blood..."

Akko thought hard about how to respond, still holding onto Diana's hand that had fallen to the floor.

"Well..." She began. "For what it's worth, that was by far the best blood I've ever tasted." Diana laughed.

"Was it worth all the staring?"

"W-" Akko stuttered, turning bright red again from embarrassment.

"What's the matter Akko?" Diana smirked. "You already confessed to me."

"S-so I did..." she swallowed, staring hopelessly at the girl in front of her.

"Akko," Diana whispered, slowly raising her free hand until it met the brunette's shoulder, leaning her arm on top of it before gently curling it in the hair behind the girl's head. "I love you," she repeated happily, leaning forwards slowly until their faces were an inch apart, the exact same electrifying heat in her core from before springing up as she eyed Akko's lips, left slightly agape with nervousness. They met eyes in silent hesitation before Akko's eyes fluttered shut and she tentatively closed the gap between her and Diana.

When their lips met, they just grazed each other. They lingered there for a moment, their eyes closed as Akko's arm found its way behind Diana's back and tugged the two closer together, the touch on her back lifting her up.

"Diana..." Akko whispered against her mouth, tilting her head slightly and fighting her rising heartbeat as one of Diana's arms made its way to her hips. The blonde let out a low humming sound and made no other movements, savouring the moment. She felt Diana letting her breath out gently against her lips, as though she were melting into a sauna and releasing all of her stress.

Akko felt the mild pull of Diana's arms around her weakening until the blonde let go, the warmth of her lips disappearing as she fell back against the wall behind her. She could feel Diana's accelerated heartbeat, leaning over her and taking shallow breaths as their wide eyes remained glued to one another.

"Closer," Diana mumbled, growing redder each second.

Akko nodded, lifting her weight for a moment as Diana shuffled backwards against the wall and Akko knelt down on her lap, one knee either side of her. Once they had settled down Akko eagerly leaned forwards again, wrapping her arms behind Diana's neck until their foreheads met.

She let her lips meet Diana's again, goosebumps rising as the blonde's hands trailed down her sides, quiet moans escaping into the air as Akko opened her mouth slightly in invitation. The coolness of the air went unnoticed behind the intense heat rising between them. Akko tensed, letting out an embarrassing noise as she felt Diana's tongue against hers, a chill going down her spine - before she felt it flick against her sharp fang and Diana let out a gasp, both of them quickly recoiling.

"S-sorry!" Akko yelped. "Is your tongue okay?"

"Fine." Diana's voice was weak, her face bright red up to her ears. "I was just shocked."

There was another long period of silence and Diana's hand found Akko's again before her head tilted back, her eyes half-lidded.

"Diana?"

"Just tired."

Akko cast her eyes down, consciously fighting against the deep pit of guilt inside her when she saw the weak state of the girl she loved. There was nothing she wanted more than to keep kissing her - and though it seemed like Diana shared that sentiment, they both knew it wasn't a good time. She looked like she was about to pass out.

"What's... What's going to happen now?" Akko asked nervously. "I mean, with the teachers and the school. After I invaded your room..."

"Ursula will probably try to minimise the consequences. My guess is she's been fighting with the other staff about it today, otherwise they would have seen us about it already."

"Yeah..." Akko sighed before her eyes widened. "D-Diana! You're shivering!"

"Am I?" The blonde mumbled.

"Hey, Diana, come on," Akko panicked, moving off the blonde and lifting her to her feet.

"You're right, it is... quite cold..." Diana murmured.

"Don't be cold!" Akko pleaded, wishing she had brought her cloak to drape over Diana's shoulders. "C-come on, you need to get to sleep as soon as possible!" She had her wand but if she tried to use a spell to warm Diana up she'd probably end up setting something on fire and Diana was in no shape to be casting spells. As a vampire, she couldn't even use her own body temperature to warm the other girl. "Diana?"

"Mm," she hummed her response, eyes closed.

Akko cursed, holding Diana close to her and pushing open the door, taking a moment to get her bearings. They were on the third floor and, fortunately, the entrance to the dormitories was just down the corridor from her. Stopping only for a moment to listen for anyone patrolling past curfew, she bolted down the corridor and into the dormitory area and followed the route she knew well to the blonde's dorm room.

Everything else was unimportant as Diana lay limp against her side. She pushed the door open without a second thought, ignoring Hannah's and Barbara's objections as she quickly carried Diana to her section of the room, laying her down in her bed.

"What in the nine is going on, Akko?" Hannah objected, shutting their door behind Akko and arriving at Diana's bedside with Barbara. "Tell us what happened!"

"It's okay," Diana mumbled, raising a hand slightly. Hannah was shocked.

"It doesn't look okay," Barbara frowned.

"I need rest... Girls..."

Hannah and Barbara shared a laboured look between each other, eventually turning to Akko.

"Akko, I hope-" Hannah began but stopped suddenly, staring at Akko's mouth.

"Hannah?" She asked nervously as Barbara took on the same disbelieving expression. "Hannah?" She repeated as the girl reached out with her index finger and carefully tapped her fang. "W-what is it?"

Hannah retracted her arm, sharing an unamused expression with Barbara as she raised her fingertip at Akko, showing a small blood red smudge. Akko froze.

"What did you do!?" Hannah hissed, curling her other hand into a fist.

"Huh? W-wait-"

"Why is there blood on your tooth?" Barbara crossed her arms.

"It's fine," Diana pleaded. "I let her."

"You - you let her?!" Barbara objected.

Diana furrowed her brow briefly before nodding.

"Akko." Barbara's voice was threatening.

"Girls, please," Diana voiced.

"Diana, do you know how serious this is?" Hannah complained.

"Of course I know how serious it is."

"Then why are you allowing this?" Barbara's face was contorted with frustration. "Can't she-"

"Leave her alone!" Akko shouted. "Look at her, she hasn't slept in days!" There was a short pause. "Can't we go over this later?"

"Fine," Hannah turned away from her. "But for Diana's sake." Barbara nodded.

"And there's something else we're going to go over as well," Barbara asserted, turning and leaving the area with Hannah.

Akko waited until she heard the other girls settle down on the other side of the room before a comfortable atmosphere came over her and Diana.

"What was that about?" She asked quietly.

"She's going to ask if we kissed," Diana answered.

Akko pouted, facing the other way.

"We did," Diana added.

Akko chuckled before placing her hand on Diana's, letting the feeling of Diana curling her hand around her own fill her heart with warmth.

"Go to sleep," Akko said simply. "It's almost midnight."

"Early night," Diana mumbled but didn't argue, pulling her covers tight over herself. "If they find you in here-"

"I'll leave once you're asleep," Akko offered.

"Mm," Diana hummed with an undertone of disappointment but, all the same, let her eyes fall easily closed. "Akko," she said one last time, pulling the brunette's hand closer and meeting Akko's eyes. "I love you," she whispered, placing a kiss on her hand before letting go.

In the time it took for Akko to recover, Diana had already fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Koumagda](https://koumagda.tumblr.com/) for the art! Click out her Tumblr for more Diakko~


	12. Chapter 12

It was a Thursday morning and Diana was woken up by her dorm mates. Diana hadn't overslept since the day after she and Akko had ended the missile crisis at the end of the year before and here she was, barely able to sit up.

Recalling the night before, Diana knew that her dorm mates were clearly aware of what was wrong with her. With one arm gripping the side of her bed, Diana reached up to trace her fingers over the side of her neck, where a subtle sting rose up, tiny marks on her skin evident under her fingers.

She let out a deep breath, fighting to stay upright and not fall backwards, no matter how close her muscles were to giving out. Now hunched over her legs on her bed and gripping it with both arms, Diana opened her eyes slowly and registered how cold she was feeling.

"How are you feeling, Diana?" Her dorm mates asked her.

"I suppose I'm..." She began, accidentally slurring her words. She paused, flexing the muscles in her jaw and trying to wake her mouth up before trying again. "I'm just taking a little longer to wake up this morning. Thank you for your patience."

She didn't have to look in order to sense her dormmates' frustration at Akko.

"M-maybe you should miss some lessons too," Hannah hazarded. "I know you're all about work ethic even when you're tired but this-"

"Hannah, please," Diana cut her off.

"Please what?" The redhead shot back, exasperated. "You know it would be insensible to push yourself." Diana paused, unsure of what she meant to say.

"Please..." She repeated before realising what was going through her mind. "Don't suggest it. It's so tempting, I might not-"

"There's a reason it's so tempting," Barbara sighed. "You know it would be the best for you."

"But it would be a disaster for Akko," she mumbled, shuffling to the side until she could swing her legs off the edge of the bed.

"Oh, for Akko?" Hannah asked, her lips pressed together. "How the hell does this cause problems for Akko? Isn't she the one-"

"I've been over this with her," Diana cut her off, trying not to let her desperateness pour into her voice. "A-and I suppose not with you, so your anger is understandable-"

"You told us that the hair tie you bought for her is what carried the curse," Barbara said bluntly, noticing the shiver of disgust that travelled through the Blonde's body.

"Look, Akko is the reason I'm so light-headed at the moment," Diana grumbled. "But it's also a literal necessity for her, Hannah. For her to stay alive. Would you sacrifice the life of someone you love just to feel healthy?"

That made them be quiet. Diana slowly stood up, now only slightly dizzy. She turned to her wardrobe, took a step forwards and leaned a hand on it without any problems.

"She told me she loves me," Diana admitted, facing away from them to hide her face. "And I told her I love her. Does that satisfy you?" She asked with bitterness.

Hannah and Barbara were at a complete loss on what to say.

Diana sighed.

"I apologise. Again. I've been on edge for a while now. I hope you can understand why. But don't worry. Croix and I have been looking into it as much as we can for some time now! We'll identify what her specific case is any day now, and then we'll be able to cure it," she insisted, her voice growing weaker towards the end. "Any day now..."

"Diana..." Barbara offered softly. "We're sorry for taking out our frustration on Akko. I, ehm... Didn't realise that that's how it went."

"S-so I should be happy, right?" Diana asked, turning to face them, her eyes wide and boring into the opposite wall. "She loves me, so I should be... happy..."

Barbara wanted to tell Diana that she should let herself be happy sometimes, but doubted that that would even serve to help at all - she met Hannah's eyes and swallowed. On the other hand, she knew that Hannah would want to say that there's a time for it. She can be happy because once Akko is cured, everything can go back to normal and they can be open about their feelings, but she didn't know how certain they could be that it was "once" Akko is cured, not "if" Akko is cured.

"This causes problems for Akko," Diana began again after a breath, "because it would paint the severity of her actions brightly and she's already on thin ice with the staff. Do you think they were happy to let a vampire roam free on their grounds? No. No one can find out about what happened, do you understand?" She asked sternly, picking up her wand and flicking it through the air, the marks on her neck disappearing in an instant.

"Diana-"

"Do you understand?" She repeated, her jaw tight.

Hannah and Barbara nodded solemnly.

"For as long as you keep up this facade," Hannah mumbled. "We'll support you. But if you become exhausted and collapse, that's not going to help Akko, is it?" She asked in an attempt to make Diana lie back down.

"Then I just won't collapse," Diana insisted, picking out her uniform and turning to the girls behind her. "Now we're going to be late if we don't hurry up so please give me some privacy while I dress."

If the past few lessons had been difficult for Diana, this was near impossible. Pouring every last scrap of her strength into sitting up straight, keeping her eyes open and not appearing as though she was struggling to do so, she was barely registering what Professor Finnelan was saying - and the occasional curious glances she was casting towards her. It was a good thing that Diana had covered this topic before and was comfortable on it - of course, she'd have to go over it in more detail to make up for wasted time later, but at the moment was certainly good enough to ace the exams.

Once the professor set the students to their work and sat down to look over papers, however, Diana began to pick up on hushed voices from outside. It was apparent that some other students had noticed too, with occasional glances towards the door where the unmistakable voices of Holbrooke and Ursula were speaking about something they couldn't quite make out. Finnelan pointedly continued with her work, expecting the students to do the same, though some couldn't help but turn back and glance at Diana. Akko's explosion at her a few days ago hadn't gone forgotten - many students in the room had woken up to it as well as Hannah and Barbara and whatever Finnelan had said to them, she clearly hadn't wiped their memories of the event.

Diana grimaced, burying her face in her book and gripping her pen tightly, ignoring the eyes she could feel cast in her direction, thankful that at least the girls sat either side of her were working instead of gawking. Each coherent thought she tried to complete in her mind collapsed and shattered as her attention was drawn unrelentingly to the whispers from outside. The professors had threatened that any more problems from Akko would have consequences and, as far as she was aware, the girl's loss of temper had gone unpunished. It was almost as if she was waiting for the inevitable-

"Miss Cavendish."

Diana's eyes darted up more quickly than they ever had before, their headmaster calmly looking in her direction.

"May we speak with you outside the classroom, please?"`

"Of course," she responded neutrally, forcing equal calmness into her voice and remaining stoic as she packed up her books and stood up, bringing them with her as she walked down the steps, aware of every pair of eyes in the room on her.

Though she knew perfectly well that she was being spoken to due to her involvement in the past incident and this felt like an inevitable and painful part of the procedure, she also knew that the professors were on her side. They would want her side of the story. They would say they want to protect her and help things be better for her. Still, she knew that things wouldn't go so easily.

She walked by Holbrooke's side with Ursula behind them for some time. Dread filled her as the familiar sight of the dorm rooms filled her eyes before they continued towards the elderly professor's office.

"We're at something of an impasse," Holbrooke finally spoke with a dark tone as they stepped into her office, closing the door. "Ursula has been defending Akko to the hilt," she continued, sitting down in her chair as the other two witches pulled chairs close to her desk as she leaned forwards and spoke more quietly. "And I'm inclined to trust her as, as I understand, she's been involved with this for a while longer than I have and she's been working with Croix on a solution. However. I also understand that she is very inclined to be biased towards the girl. Do you disagree?" She thinned her eyes at the younger professor who waited in uncomfortable silence. She then turned to Diana. "Now then, with this in mind, I believe we stated that Akko may continue to study here with no further consequence provided there would be no further rule infractions. Regrettably, considering the events of yesterday morning, we have no choice-"

"Please wait!" Diana shouted, startling both of the professors in the room - she had never lost her composure in front of them like this before. "She had reason to act like that, I promise!"

Ursula and Holbrooke shared a confused glance.

"Let's hear it then," Holbrooke said.

"I..." Diana faltered, taking a deep breath. She could hardly lie to the entire world about her and the hairband. It had to become common knowledge eventually. "I have found out the cause of her vampirism." Ursula's eyes widened and Holbrooke leaned forwards, placing her hands which had previously been neatly folded on her lap face down on her desk. "The fact is... It was my fault. It came from an enchanted item I bought her as a gift. I had no idea..." Diana explained, robbed of her composure by a sudden lightheadedness. She internally cursed, wondering if she should have accepted Hannah's and Barbara's advice, tensing every muscle in her body in order to keep her eyes open and not sway in her chair.

"Diana," Ursula said quietly. "This means there is nothing inside of Luna Nova-"

"No, there's nothing wrong with the school!" Diana hissed. "It was me! It's all my fault! A-and with her outburst a few days ago, I had just told her that! She felt betrayed by the one person who promised to be there for her!"

"Diana-" Holbrooke tried to begin but was cut off.

"I promised to be by her side... To take care of her... I was her lifeline, do you understand?" She curled her fists.

There was a long silence.

"I understand the guilt you feel," Ursula said blankly. Diana looked up to meet her eyes. "And she looked up to me perhaps as much as she looks up to you now," she continued. "But unlike me, you can't blame yourself. You told her as soon as you found out, and now that you know, we can work faster on finding out a solution."

"Diana," Holbrooke started again. "This is a heavy development but, I'm sorry, this doesn't excuse Akko."

"It-" Diana parroted, her voice disappearing in her throat. A glint of rage flickered in her eyes, overcome in the briefest of moments to stand and shout. Still, she sat still, glaring at the elderly witch. "Holbrooke?"

"She is still a threat to our school and I cannot risk any harm coming to you or any of the other students here."

"Please!" Diana shouted, standing up from her chair, only to fall to her knees. "You can't expel Akko from the school! It was always her dream to be here, and it would all be my fault! At least give me a chance to fix my own mistakes!" Holbrooke's expression was hard though she was clearly distressed, her eyes thinning as her eyes looked everywhere apart from Diana's. "Where would she go? Do you think you could just send her through the leyline and leave her in Glastonbury? Do you think she won't try to come back? Didn't you consider that she'll be just as much of a danger to others there?!"

"Diana, there are facilities-"

"So you want to send her to a prison?" Diana's eyes were thin with anger, her nose curled and her chin jutting out slightly. Her hands, on the floor in front of her, were inadvertently clawing at the wooden boards. No response. Holbrooke looked to Ursula for support, but Ursula turned the other way. "I'll watch over her," Diana said quietly. "Through the night. Every second she's awake."

"You can't do that, don't you think that would be detrimental to your studi-"

"I don't care about that, Holbrooke! Do you think my grades are more important than her life! Do you have no honour as a teacher and guardian? She's your pupil!" Now, nothing but doubt and pain reflected through the professor's eyes. "Let her stay in the school," Diana begged, leaning forwards until her forehead touched the ground. "I beg you."

Diana couldn't see their reactions, but there was a gasp from Holbrooke followed by a long silence.

"I beg you," she pleaded weakly and barely audibly.

"I had no idea your opinions of her were so strong," Holbrooke admitted. Diana looked up. Again, the two professors shared a glance before turning back to Diana, her eyes bloodshot and wet, her hands sweating, her jaw tense and her uniform a complete mess. "Then, in light of the severity of this... Should you decide to take her into your own care..." Holbrooke tentatively began. Diana's eyes lightened. "I will allow it."

"Professor," Diana breathed out, almost collapsing onto the floor with relief.

"But, Diana, she is on very thin ice," their headmaster added sternly. "And whether or not our top student is keeping her in check, any more problems from her... If she hurts one single student, she isn't staying in this school. Non-negotiable."

Diana gulped, hoping that neither could see through the illusion she had cast on her neck. They did, after all, routinely check for illusions due to students like Amanda leaving them in classrooms in order to skip lessons, so she had made sure to use a needlessly high level spell for it.

"I understand," she said, slowly standing up. "Akko is not going to take a single step out of line."

"I certainly hope so, Diana," Holbrooke answered. "But you are being permitted to change your timetable most significantly. Be aware that I am placing a great deal of trust in you. Do not make the problem worse."

"I will not," Diana insisted with titanium determination, bringing her arms tensely to her sides.

"Very well then," Holbrooke sighed. "Until this is over, your lessons, assemblies and any other obligations are no longer mandatory. You will instead be completing supplementary work set by teachers, as is Akko. Please do not exhaust yourself, and please keep Akko out of trouble."

"Thank you, professor," Diana offered, bowing deeply.

She was almost surprised when they allowed her to leave the room without bringing something else up. Notification of her responsibilities would be passed quickly on to the other teachers so she wouldn't worry about explaining her absence over and over again. Their lesson with Finnelan was just coming to an end when she returned to their classroom, so she was conveniently able to catch her dorm mates on their way to their history of magic lesson.

"Diana!" Hannah let out a breath of relief when the two spotted the blonde meeting them in the corridor.

"Girls," she answered.

"What was that about? Please don't tell us something has happened with Akko," Barbara pleaded.

"In a sense, no," Diana shook her head. "We addressed Akko's... incident in our room a few days ago. Holbrooke wanted to have her sent away but I argued against it." Barbara faced the floor with discomfort as Hannah gulped. "I'm going to be keeping her out of trouble from now on. That means I'll be keeping her in check while she's awake at night, and thus I'll be missing morning lessons."

Barbara gasped.

"Diana!" She recoiled. "How long do you intend to keep this up?"

"As long as it takes," she answered darkly. "You won't argue against me. You know my motives in fighting for Akko. And one more thing," she added. "No one can find out that she took my blood, okay?" She asked in a hushed tone. "Absolutely no one apart from us and her dorm mates, because that might be the last straw for the teachers."

Hannah and Barbara nodded nervously.

Unsurprisingly for Diana, the morning lessons passed by quickly and she couldn't focus in the slightest. The words of her professors flew straight over her head and she didn't even listen enough to confirm if it was content that she already knew - the many thoughts flying through her head all flying around Akko. It was a weird arrangement that they had come to, and not one that she had expected to arise at all - as if, all of a sudden, her school life was being put on hold for her to be Akko's caretaker. She shook her head. It would be easy to think wrongly of this and begin to relax - under different circumstances, it would be amazing. Just her and Akko together alone all the time, after they had confessed to one another, with all the space in the world to work things out. Still, she had been trusted by the school to continue her work and keep Akko under control, and that was what she was going to do.

Though more often it was Akko in her room than her in Akko's, she knew the way to the red team's dorm room perfectly well, so as the beginning of their lunch break finally came around, Diana found herself wandering over to Akko's room. Afternoon lessons were when she was supposed to rejoin for lessons anyway, so she would explain the agreement she had made with Holbrooke to Akko before they prepared for afternoon lessons.

Afternoon lessons.

Diana sighed tiredly. If Akko's condition got worse, would they still expect her to attend lessons? Couldn't they see that there was more at risk than her education?

Diana paused. If she wasn't going to use or contribute to anything in the school, then what really was the point in her being there apart from for Diana's sake and her own?

She shook her head, scolding herself. What was the point standing around and thinking like things like that, especially after the last few days where she'd done almost no research at all into Akko's case?

Now she was stood outside the brunette's dorm, her hand hovering over the door. Something about it felt oddly taboo, as though, following the night before, it was some kind of risque secret meeting, even though she was only there to talk.

"Only here to talk," she whispered to herself before knocking gently on the door. "Hey, Akko? It's Diana."

No response.

With the exception of the past few days, Diana had been visiting Akko at lunch time almost every day without fail for some time now, and often found her asleep. It was understandable, considering lunch break started at noon and she was probably only getting to sleep around six or seven in the morning. Afternoon lessons would begin at one thirty, so often Diana would return to wake up Akko just before then.

This time, she waited outside the door, unwilling to leave for a number of reasons. Eventually she decided to gently push open the door and step inside. The room was small, and cosy would be a word well suited to describe it if not for the constantly twisting knot in her gut as she addressed it. There was a table along the opposite end from the door consisting of three desks, each with their own chairs, bins and a supply of books. Sucy's bed, neatly made on the right, and a double bunk on the left - on the lower of which, Akko was still asleep.

It was bleak and dry as Diana stepped in, a very subtle creak from the floorboards beneath her before she closed the door.

"Akko," she mumbled to herself, biting her bottom lip as the girl lay in an exhausted slumber, her covers pulled tightly over her body. Akko was often asleep when Diana came to pick her up. It seemed to her that there just wasn't any point in making her attend afternoon lessons, but she was sure that that could be changed easily enough. Perhaps even now, by herself, given what she had been granted by Holbrooke.

She knelt down beside the bed, as she often did, and leaned back on her heels, resting her elbows and head on the edge of the mattress before breathing out a slow, tired breath. If she waited here, then she would surely be able to keep a watch on Akko. She'd just wait until Akko woke up, then escort her to the lessons and explain the development. Breathing out gently and becoming strangely comfortable in her position, the complete silence save the distant chatter of students on their lunch break was alluring, tempting Diana further each second to rest her eyes.

Soon, the noise of students milling around during their lunch break had come to an end but Diana didn't notice - only lulled further into restfulness by silence. Soon, she decided to rest her eyes.

  
  
  
  


"Diana?" Lotte squeaked.

Diana shot up, her eyes suddenly wide. She had fallen asleep beside Akko. Sucy and Lotte were in the door to their dorm. Akko looked like she was still asleep. But if her dorm mates had come back, did that mean that lessons were over?

"L-Lotte?" She shot back, scrambling to her feet and patting down her uniform. "Sucy? What's the time?"

"Just past four o'clock," Sucy answered. "What's going on?"

"Four o'clock!?" Diana repeated, panic evident in her voice. But then again, she had been excused from lessons. This would take some getting used to. I..." Diana paused, feeling two pairs of eyes on her. "I came to visit Akko during lunch break, and I..."

"Fell asleep," Lotte finished for her.

Sucy looked at Akko, thinning her eyes.

"She's usually awake before now."

Diana cleared her throat, forcing composure back into her demeanour.

"What counts as usual is going to keep changing," she explained. "We still don't know how bad this... could be..." She slowed down, following Sucy's eyes to Akko, who was beginning to stir in response to their conversation. "I have important news you all," Diana addressed the girl's dorm mates. "Do you mind if I wait here until she wakes up?"

"No need to ask," Lotte answered nervously.

"How did your conversation go with her?" Sucy asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. She must be referring to the night before. Noticing an intense look from Lotte, she took a breath.

"I'm sure that the two of you already know how she feels, but... Well..." She stuttered. "She told me that she loves me," she sighed, releasing the stress from her body. While Sucy appeared to look disinterested, Lotte's gaze only grew more intense. "And I told her that I love her."

This time, Lotte breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't the important news, was it?" Sucy asked from her bed. Diana looked up to meet her eye.

"No, it's not."

"Huh?" Akko mumbled from her bed. Diana darted back to the brunette to see her rubbing her temples, one eye open. "Hey everyone... Time to go to lessons?" She asked boredly.

"Akko, classes are over," Diana answered slowly.

"C - classes are over? Oh crap, Finnelan's gonna murder me," she groaned, sitting up quickly.

"Relax," Diana said, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently guiding her back down.

"Huh?" Akko asked, bewildered. "Has something happened?"

"I've spoken to Ursula and Holbrooke," Diana answered. "Regarding the events in my room a few days ago." A thick silence suddenly fell over the room, all three witches listening attentively. "She was close to sending you out but I begged her to let you stay, and she has allowed you to stay, though on a condition." Akko eyed the floor, her hands twitchy. "I am no longer going to be attending lessons," Diana continued. "Instead, I am going to keep watch over you while you are awake, Akko, and sleep into the afternoon as you do."

"D-Diana?" Akko whispered, her throat tight and her eyes wide.

"Akko... One more incident..." Diana explained, the knot in her stomach tightening until her throat began to constrict and she felt her eyes dampening. "If anything at all happens... They're going to send you away... To a facility..."

"Diana?" she repeated, her eyes wide.

"So that's why I'm going to be keeping an eye on you for every waking moment," she concluded.

"B-but, Diana," Lotte stuttered.

"I will not change my mind," the blonde shot back at her. "Yesterday evening," she continued, addressing Lotte and Sucy. "Akko sucked my blood." She paused for Lotte's gasp of surprise and Sucy's unsurprised nod. "I made sure to cover the mark with magic and act as though I haven't been light-headed all day. This is because absolutely nobody can find out about it apart from us and my dorm mates who figured it out immediately after it happened. Do you understand?"

Lotte nodded violently and Sucy sighed.

"Yeah," Sucy eventually conceded. "Not a word."

"Thank you two," Diana nodded, feeling her head falling to the side again. "I'm sorry this is affecting you both like this."

"It's okay, Diana," Lotte offered from where she hadn't moved since the beginning of their conversation.

"U-huh," Sucy nodded. "I've been analysing samples from her as well, actually."

"Y-you have?" Akko shot.

"Though not to much use, as of yet," Sucy mumbled. "But still. We all owe her this much, right?"

"Right," Diana nodded.

"You guys..." Akko whispered. "Thank you."

Diana reached into the covers and quickly found Akko’s hand, grasping onto it and holding it tightly. Even though the symptoms were quickly growing worse and worse, Croix had recently told Diana that she might be able to figure something out soon. She'd had a breakthrough of sorts, in that she knew where to go next in her her research. Even if it reached the point where Akko sucked Diana's blood every day, Diana would cure her.


	13. Chapter 13

Hours had passed since the conversation with Akko's dorm mates, during which Diana had relentlessly trailed Akko. Though they had spent increasingly large amounts of time together as of late, even before the had vampirism come about, this was something new and undeniably strange. Aside from the time Akko had to go to the toilet, where Diana found herself awkwardly waiting outside the stall and praying that nobody walked into the room, she was close by Akko's side every single second.

There were clearly times where Akko decided to do something different to what she otherwise would have if Diana wasn't with her, though Diana began to get a better sense of what it felt like for the time to tick by in Akko's head. Pacing up and down the school grounds over and over, occasionally picking up a comic and being unable to sit still and read it for five minutes and engaging in brief spouts of conversation with the exhausted blonde filled her hours until the sky was, once again, completely black, and Diana had retreated to her own dormitory with Akko at her side.

Sat side by side on Diana's bed in her closed-off area and barely aware of Hannah's and Barbara's existence behind the bookshelf that blocked off the rest of the room, the two girls leaned tiredly against the wall behind them.

"Hey, Diana," Akko eventually asked after a short silence, her fiddling with the hem of her skirt and her nervous tone of voice instantly setting off alerts in Diana's mind.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering..." She began slowly, her eyes glued to the floor and her knees pressed together - with a slight blush rising to her cheeks, Diana was strangely not spared of her concern even when she realised that Akko was filled with embarrassment. "Since, yesterday, I told you... I told you... You know... And you said..." She stammered, looking hopefully up to Diana for help.

"I said," Diana began, looking up to meet Akko's eyes. "I love you?" The words had an extraordinary effect on the brunette, as though a spark of electricity had gone through her body - she was almost lifted up, a glint of joy however brief radiating from her eyes.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "A-and I love you," she nodded.

"What of it?"

"Well, I was just wondering if that..." She fumbled, her eyes cast back to her lap with her shoulders hunched as if to hide herself. "If it made us... Girlfriends?" Akko hazarded. Diana paused. She was in love with Akko, but she hadn't much thought of it like that. "And I know it's silly thinking about something like that when, you know, with all that's... But..." Akko stuttered, looking up to Diana again for support.

Diana had no response - as much as other noble families had desperately tried to court her, she had never once in her life been in a relationship, let alone one with actual romance.

"Akko," she answered in a strained voice. "I... I don't know..." she answered honestly, shaking her head. "I don't know what that entails, or how it would change anything for us." Akko's eyes darkened slightly as she shrunk back against the wall. "I-I mean, that would be wonderful," Diana continued quickly, "I'd love to..." she paused before furrowing her brow in thought. "But what do you think everyone would make of it?"

"What do you mean?" Akko nervously asked.

"What do you think the professors would think if they found out? They might realise the extent of my bias and decide that my judgement was clouded and send you away immediately," she answered sadly. "And do we have room for these thoughts nowadays anyway?"

"What does that mean?" Akko huffed, her shoulders slumping. "We have all the time in the world for each other!"

"No, that's not it," Diana shook her head. "Akko," she said again, leaning towards the other girl and wrapping her arms around her, jumping for joy at the touch of her skin yet filled with dread in the frivolity of the time spent like this. Diana placed a hand on Akko's head and pulled her closer, inadvertently straddling one of her knees as she held the brunette's head close against her chest, closing her eyes sadly. "Call me whatever pleases you for now. But after we cure you," she said surely. "Then, we will tell the world that we are girlfriends."

"Mph," she heard Akko hum, feeling the brunette's arms quickly move around her own body.

"I do love you," Diana stated clearly, placing a long, gentle kiss on Akko's forehead. She felt Akko's hand grip her shoulder and give it a comforting squeeze.

There was a long silence as Akko began to squirm.

"Diana," she said quietly.

No response.

"Diana?" She repeated.

"Akko?" Diana breathed, her eyes drifting open.

"You're not already falling asleep, are you?" Akko asked worriedly.

"What?" She mumbled, shaking her head. "Oh. O-oh, Akko!" She hissed, raising her hands and slapping her own cheeks, her jaw tense. "I can't," she mumbled irritatedly, shifting herself off the other girl to Akko's disappointment and surprising her by punching the bed. "I can't," she half shouted, her face contorted in frustration. "How am I any use to you if you have to keep waking me up?!" She hissed.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have the most sleep-deprived person out of our dorm watch over Akko?" Hannah asked out of nowhere, appearing around the corner.

"Not to mention the most blood-deprived," Barbara added darkly, coming up at her side.

"G-girls? How long were you listening to us?" Diana asked, blushing brightly.

"Only since you started shouting to yourself," Hannah sighed.

"Well," Diana cleared her throat, "you two have lessons to attend. Remember, I am permitted to sleep in as late as necessary."

"But you're struggling to stay awake even now!" Barbara pleaded.

"That's only for today," Diana insisted. "Soon I will adjust to being nocturnal. This is my duty and I won't have it any other way."

Hannah and Barbara met eyes before nodding to each other.

"If you're sure," Barbara said quietly, and the two of them disappeared.

It felt like fighting the world, but between Akko's company and her many books, Diana was able to stay awake for hours longer. It felt like, despite what her duty was at the moment, she was at her weakest and Akko was there to comfort her. Still, it came to the point where their conversation had stopped and Diana was lying down in her bed, Akko awkwardly waiting beside her.

"Akko," she said quietly, reaching out for the brunette.

"What?" Akko tentatively responded, taking Diana's hand, watching as the blonde tapped their connected hands with her wand.

"If you let go of my hand, I will instantly be woken up," Diana explained, her head falling back against her pillow. She looked to the side, to her clock, which revealed that it was barely three am. "If it helps you to lie down and join me, I wouldn't mind at all," Diana admitted quietly, pulling the covers over herself.

"D-Diana?!" Akko stammered, a tugging in her arm as Diana held her hand close to her own chest.

"I'm saying come and sleep with me," Diana huffed, patting the space next to her with her free hand. "I don't know if I can or can't trust you not to cause trouble if I leave you alone but either way, I have a duty I was entrusted with.”

"Diana," Akko hesitantly mumbled again, but the blonde shook her head.

"No one will walk in and see us apart from Hannah and Barbara," Diana droned, her eyes already falling shut but her arms outstretched as an invitation.

Akko gulped, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest but all the same her nerves burned and her muscles were frozen.

"Y-yeah," she conceded, nervously setting her body down on the bed, surprised as Diana quickly shuffled towards her and she felt the blonde's free arm wrapping around her body in a tight embrace, the bedcover falling over both of them.

"Goodnight," Diana whispered.

"Mm~" Akko squeaked, her cheeks redder than they had ever been before - at first she had been tense, her head pulled back in an attempt not to let it fall against Diana's, only worried that she'd be unable to lie still and disturb Diana. As time passed though, the effectiveness of Diana's strategy became apparent to Akko - once she allowed herself to, it became very easy to relax. It was totally different to the times before that the two had fallen asleep on the top of each other - first her in the park on her 'date' with Diana, then Diana in the medical area after healing her burns. Those times, it had been something exciting yet innocent, where neither had the heart to wake the other, where sharing that much affection was a novelty and whatever intense feelings of adoration either felt were unspoken - but now everything had happened so suddenly, Akko could hardly believe that it was real. Diana had very quickly fallen asleep, every muscle in her body exhausted and relaxed - her embrace was loosening but still present and her skin soft, and Akko found herself letting her fall towards the centre of the sinking bed, her cheek brushing against Diana's. She finally indulged herself, pressing her lips against the other girl's cheek briefly before she breathed out softly and closed her eyes.

  
  
  
  


For a few days, they were both surprised at how easily Diana was getting Akko to stay still and not cause any trouble, and Diana was quickly able to adjust and stay up until Akko began to feel tired as the sun began its climb into the sky.

This optimism, Diana soon realised, was gravely misplaced.

Diana's routine had been completely thrown out of the window - the many hours she would have spent trying to study Akko and find a cure were spent idly trying to keep Akko calm and some days she would never even get a scrap of work done, be it for school or for Akko's case. Most days, Akko would take to the forest to stalk and roam aimlessly - the feral look in her eyes that only grew and grew as time passed terrified Diana beyond what she could convey but the worst part of the experience whenever Akko lost herself was when she came back to her senses. She would be nerve-wracked, terrified, shivering and cold. She would hold onto Diana as though she were the only source of stability and, while Diana was extremely glad that she was there for Akko in those moments and didn't want to think about what it was like when she wasn't there, it had begun to make a heavy mental drain on her as well.

It had been under a week since this routine had started when Diana understood what the looks Akko had been giving her for the past few days meant - and it had ended up happening in the same old abandoned classroom as last time, in the early hours of the morning - when Diana found herself pressed up against the wall without a shred of strength to resist as a familiar bloody sting flared up in her neck, Akko's strength alone stopping her from collapsing.

Just like the last time, Akko was apologetic to no end, before admitting that no other blood could possibly compare. Even though Diana was the only human whose blood Akko had taken, Akko felt something special when it was from Diana.

As close as the two had become and accustomed to one another's company as they were, there was a rising air of tension. Akko's episodes were growing longer with less time between, and more vivid - she would never hurt Diana, and she would usually manage to keep herself under control until Diana could take her into the depths of the forest, but it was getting harder for Diana to watch. Akko was often agitated, her conversations growing thinner and her time spent pacing up and down the school growing, her body clock growing later until she wouldn't wake until after sunset. Her affections with Diana became more distant yet more desperate at the same time, as though she was clinging with all her strength to the sense that Diana represented in her life and the deep and growing love that she held for the girl before she forgot how to express it.

Days turned into weeks, in which Akko was only becoming more reliant on blood. Her sucking Diana's blood had turned from a weekly occurrence to several times a week until it was almost every other day. Diana was growing more and more tired with each second though, overwhelmed with her sense of responsibility, she pleaded Akko not to take blood from anyone beside her. It was clear that Akko was growing weaker and more hungry too, as it seemed that what Diana had to offer without passing out simply wasn't enough anymore - having quickly caught on to Diana's extreme physical weakness, Lotte and even Sucy had offered Akko their own blood out of concern for their two friends. Diana and Akko had been surprised when Hannah and Barbara had both separately not just asked but pleaded to use their own blood instead.

For days, Diana had argued against it - with each new person she bites, the risk of the vampirism spreading increases. For each new person she bites, another person falls victim to light-headedness and tiredness and whatever plethora of unseen side effects may lurk. For each new person she bites, the chances of it being discovered by the teachers increases drastically, yet they didn't cease in their attempts to help. As Diana had explained to them in the past, vampirism can't be transferred by having your blood sucked by a vampire, so they were willing to put up with the risks.

On Diana's weaker days, where it was blindingly obvious to everyone apart from her that she just wasn't able to keep up, the others would step in and insist that blood be taken from them - and in those cases, it was a surprisingly awkward endeavour. When Akko heard the hisses of pain and whimpers from her friends as their blood filled her mouth, it made her feel sick. Still, she would never ask for Diana instead, no matter how tempting it was.

Though she had often been plagued by the terror that she was a burden, the thought had never so blaringly made itself known in her mind. Everyone cringed when it came to the time of day - as it had become a daily event - when she needed to take someone's blood. Soon, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze had figured out that she regularly needed blood and quickly volunteered too.

Weeks passed and, despite her objections, Diana had been demoted from bearing 100 per cent of the burden to just an eighth of it. Though she was the only one who would stay up with Akko every night, there would be entire weeks when she wouldn't have to think about surrendering her blood - and still, she didn't feel herself recovering in the slightest. The situation that she had stupidly assumed could be solved before too many people found out about it had spread like wildfire, desperately out of control and the thought of it made her pull her hair out from stress.

Rumours began to spread about Akko, who was very well known around the school and admired by every student. People had been suspicious from the moment she was exempt from morning lessons what seemed like a lifetime ago but the drastic swing in her behaviour left everyone concerned. Many students and close friends had come knocking at Akko's door, only to be met with Akko whimpering and begging them to leave, sometimes even shouting at them, rocking back and forth in Diana's arms as the blonde shut her eyes and held on tight, begging Akko not to slip away. Diana would never say it to Akko, but she had wondered from time to time if they would ever find a cure for Akko, let alone on time, and the moment that thought had entered her head, Diana knew that she was beginning to lose hope. The idea that it had all been for nothing. The idea that every moment she had cherished with Akko was worthless in the end.

Diana had given her blood to Akko two days ago and was completely exhausted. The two of them were quietly holding on to each other in Diana's dormitory - Diana had no idea what the time was, she just knew that everyone else had long ago fallen asleep - when someone tried to contact her on her crystal ball.

Akko, who had been leaning her head on Diana's chest as the two lay on her bed, perked up slightly, thinning her eyes at the glow coming from the orb in the otherwise pitch-black room.

"Hey, Diana?" She whispered, her voice hoarse. "Diana," she repeated quickly, grabbing the blonde's shoulder. "Your crystal ball is doing a thing."

"What?" Diana mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve and turning to the sphere. "It's almost four o'clock, who would be awake at this time?" She asked, not daring to state her last shred of optimism, even in the back of her mind.

She sighed and sat up at great effort as Akko lifted her body off Diana's, sitting cross-legged at Diana's side before reaching out for her crystal ball and making some vague hand movement over it. Both girls watched, transfixed, as its misty contents cleared up to reveal that Croix was trying to call them.

"Wait," Diana hissed, reaching to accept the call in such a rush that she missed, almost knocking the sphere over before steadying it, her whole body tense, and answering the call. "Croix? What is it?" She slurred, her speech so fast that it was barely registerable.

"I fucking figured it out," the woman's face appeared, looking almost as tired as Diana did. Her hair looked like it hadn't been paid attention to in months, overgrown with wisps and stray bunches falling over all around her and in front of her face, though she paid them no attention. Her skin was gleaming with sweat, a constant determined grimace plastered on her visage.

"Y-you what?" Diana bleated, leaning forwards. Akko had frozen. "You-"

"Akko's condition," Croix began, her voice sounding slightly tinny and muffled through the sphere, as she lifted up a dense page of notes that Akko couldn't decipher and Diana was too tired to attempt to. "Of everything it could possibly, I've narrowed it down to Sanguine Vampirism, stage 3 at this point.”

"Sanguine Vampirism?" Diana parroted.

"You know there are several different types of vampirism," Croix droned. "Each with their own complicated cures - should the cure be administered for the wrong type of vampirism, the results would be disastrous."

"Yes, I know," Diana huffed, pushing their covers aside and standing up in her pyjamas, shivering against the cold as Akko did the same.

"Well from the samples you've sent me, I've figured out that it's Sanguine Vampirism stage 3. It's good I know this now since it's still reversible."

"Still?" Diana shot back, her eyes widening.

"Once it reaches stage 4, which will be in maybe a week or two by my estimate but it could even be sooner, it will be permanent, incurable."

"So what's the cure?" Diana begged.

"I don't know, I only just figured this much out," Croix complained. "It would take me days to get the clearance to look at that kind of thing in this library - they're really picky about what they let me see-"

"Luna Nova probably has it," Diana interrupted her, grabbing the ball and Akko's wrist and marching for the door. "In the archives," she explained.

"The archives? Are you even allowed-"

"It doesn't matter, Croix," Diana insisted, power walking down the dormitory corridor. "I have one of the keys so we're going there right now."

A tense silence filled the air as the two stepped outside. Dark shapes slumbered on the ground, shadows cast by the bleak light of the full moon, a dense, intimidating fog completely obscuring everything out of arm's reach. The air, though windless, was bitingly cold and the grass damp in the mist. Though tense and still, there was undeniable excitement. Excitement so intense that it carried disbelief and everything seemed to float - hope, the thought that there might come an end to this and everything could return to normal.

"Diana," Akko murmured, her arms numb from a strange chill running down her spine. A smile tried to work its way onto her mouth but was frozen in her terror that Croix or Diana would get something wrong. Again, all she could do was watch the more knowledgeable witches.

"We're almost there," Diana shot back, glancing up as the dark silhouette began to form in front of them. Her approach undeterred, she pulled from her robe a small cylindrical device, one side glowing green in what seemed like Luna Alphabet characters before pushing it shut. In an instant, a similar green glow emerged from the building in front of them, a sharp line cutting itself through its bland wall and curving down to the floor to form a doorway.

Akko watched in wonder as Diana stepped inside, glowering at the unruly disorganised mess in front of them. Thousands of unmarked cubby holes lined both the outsides and the thick pillar on the inside. She glanced down to the sphere Diana was gripping tightly as Croix's image began to flicker and fade, soon disappearing completely.

"Vampirism," Diana mused to herself, stepping some distance to their right and pausing at a patch of wall that looked exactly the same as all of the others at first glance.

"How do you find your way around this place?" Akko asked quietly, looking around. It seemed like there was no form of organisation at all.

"I've been here many times before searching for archives on vampirism," Diana answered quickly, filtering through the many books with her hands. "Sa, sa, sa, sa..." she repeated to herself, frowning darkly. "I know I've seen a book on Sanguine Vampirism here before. Sa - here!" She shouted, pulling out a book with force.

Akko watched as Diana scoured the contents with the index with intense eyes, ravishing the page for all its contents and silently threatening death if it didn't hold what she was looking for.

"Cure," she mumbled to herself in an increasingly agitated tone, flicking through to near the end of the book and slamming it against a wall. "There!" She shouted, pressing a rigid finger against the page.

"There's a cure?" Akko asked weakly.

"Yes!" Diana shouted, her eyes falling down the contents of the page. "A potion... Grape seed extract, sunflower essence, crushed and powdered black pearl, a thorn of Wagandea and... a drop of non-vampiric witch blood." Akko stared as Diana thinned her eyes, searching her brain for the right thoughts. "A thorn of Wagandea?" She eventually asked, returning to the book.

"Should I go to the lab and see if I can find any of them?" Akko pleaded.

"Hold on," Diana paused. "I think," she said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Luna Nova has all of these items," she continued, her eyes continuing down the page.

"Really?" Akko breathed, her eyes widening. "S-so we-"

"Full moon!?" Diana hissed dropping her crystal ball which smashed on the floor, her eyes darting up to the lack of windows and recalling the full moon's vivid image in the sky above them.

"What is it?" Akko asked.

"The potion has to be drank under the light of a full moon to take effect," Diana hissed, taking hold of the book and marching for the exit, Akko close behind.

"That means we have to do this right now or we lose the chance forever, you heard what Croix said! Akko, oh my God, what if that had come a day later?" She rambled, setting off at a run towards the lab but quickly growing dizzy and pausing to breathe.

"Diana, are you okay?" Akko pleaded, trying to support the blonde's weight.

"Tired!" She hissed, continuing at her previous powerwalk while leaning her arm over Akko's shoulders. "We - we only have today, God, shit, shit!" She cried, desperately stumbling forwards in an effort to reach the lab slightly faster. The walk to the potions classroom was painfully long, though Diana quickly got to work once they had arrived.

"The first two ingredients, grape seed extract and sunflower essence," Diana stated. "You get those two."

"Right!" Akko shouted, assaulting the room's cupboards and tables for what she was looking for. She wasn't the best potions student but it didn't take her long to search the rows for the clearly listed ingredients, pulling out large and obviously completely abundant bags of each. "I've got them!" She shouted, running over to the side door that Diana had disappeared into.

Inside, a large, jet-black pearl lay on the table by Diana's open book, about two centimetres in diameter. Diana was stood at the end of her room, gripping her wand tightly and shivering with frustration.

"Diana?" Akko asked shakily, approaching the blonde.

"Open... Just open, curse you!" Diana hissed, bringing her wand forcibly down on the small golden box in front of her.

"M-maybe we should go and get Lukić?" Akko suggested.

"Just open!" Diana screamed, raising her wand suddenly above her head. Akko flinched at the display, watching as the top half of the box was wrenched violently from the bottom, a painful tearing sound rippling through the air among the clicks and scratches and the tiny fireworks erupting between the pieces of the box as several protective enchantments were shattered.

"Is that-" Akko asked, her eyes widening as, inside the remains of the box - several ordinary, green-tinted and vicious-looking thorned leaves.

Diana nodded, carefully lifting a few of them up with her wand.

"You've got yours?" Diana asked, turning around to see Akko nervously holding the bags. She nodded, leaving the wreckage of the room behind her and pausing at the nearest table where she pulled out a mortar and pestle. Akko watched as she placed the pearl carefully on the surface in front of her, whispering something into the air and tapping the pearl with her wand - the black sphere instantly crumbling and disintegrating into a fine powder.

Akko shrunk back against the wall, fighting the will to run and jump, overwhelmed by the instinct of excitement and fear and whatever was in between, daring not to open her mouth but feeling her muscles grow increasingly tight. As Diana laboured over the potion that could well bring an end to everything, ingredients disappearing from the bags and forming the pure white liquid in the bottle, Akko's eyes were drawn again to her figure, her skin. Small patches of moonlight shone from the windows and fell onto the back of her head, just above the back. Messy blonde hair, matted with sweat, fell straight down by her sides and left several patches of her neck clearly visible.

"And... the thorn," Diana mused, picking up her wand and levitating it carefully above the bottle, sighing in relief when it instantly dissolved upon touching the solution. Diana grabbed the potion, staring deeply into its contents while breathing heavily. "Akko, all that's left..." She breathed, turning to the brunette, who was practically holding herself against the wall, as she nodded violently. "A-Akko, are you okay?" Diana pleaded.

"I don't know!" Akko shouted, clenching her fist against the voracious, ravenous digging in her gut. A knot in her stomach had formed and was twisting so tightly that she was afraid that all of a sudden, she wouldn't know where she was or what she was doing. "Just..." She hissed, shaking her head.

"Right!" Diana shouted, holding the potion in one hand and grabbing Akko's wrist with the other. "Into the courtyard, we must be under the moonlight!" Akko nodded, swallowing thickly and, holding tightly onto Diana's sleeve, followed the girl out through the door and out into the cold air of the courtyard.

Hope. Blindingly close, screaming in their ears, tearing their walls down, ripping their reason from them, stronger than the sun or the moon, more present than their own senses and so real that it was unreal was shooting through their veins.

Akko screwed her eyes shut as she couldn't find the strength to tear them away from Diana's neck as the blonde set about placing the potion on a table and pulled up her sleeve, her wand forming a short, sharp knife.

Akko's breaths grew wild and shallow, time passing at a million miles per hour, the full moon threatening to disappear at the most sudden time. She was in pain. She was hungry, her throat was so dry she couldn't form words, her eyes growing wide against her command and glaring at the beautiful, soft, pale skin of Diana's neck.

"The last ingredient," Diana took a deep breath. "One drop of non-vampiric witch blood," she explained, holding her hand over the potion and holding the knife close to her fingertip. She hesitated for a brief moment, taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes. One small cut and it would all be over. She nodded, commanding her arm to press the blade against her skin.

It was a hair's width away from drawing blood when Diana was suddenly thrown off balance.

She gasped, the last semblance of strength leaving her body as a white-hot sting seared through her neck and through her body. She would have screamed if she had the strength in her lungs, but she instantly collapsed, held in place by her torso. Her mind had gone completely blank, her muscles not responding to the slightest of signals she could fathom. She saw a completely lost expression Akko's eyes as her teeth sink into Diana's neck before her own eyes fell shut, begging that Akko would stop.

Then she felt the shock of her body hitting the freezing, damp grass. A slight breath left her lungs and one eye opened, only to see Akko staring blankly into the distance.

"A... A..." The brunette looked down at her, ecstasy in her eyes. "Akko..."

Diana could feel a terrifying empty blackness clawing at the edges of her mind. If she let it consume her, then everything would be over. All the things she wanted to do with Akko in their future - she never got a chance to think about them. She met Akko's eyes, the girl she had fallen in love with completely dead.

The sound of her name was repeating in her head over and over again, louder than every other thought. Akko. Akko. Akko. Atsuko Kagari, the girl who Diana fell in love with. The girl who fell in love with Diana. The girl Diana would give every fibre of her strength to protect. The girl whose future was taken by Diana's own mistake. The hot stinging of tears formed in her eyes, a hole tearing itself through her heart at the thought. Akko was disappearing.

Diana was not going to let Akko disappear.

"The potion!" She forced the words out of her mouth with all her strength, coming as barely more than a whisper. Diana's face contorted from the effort, overcome by a rush of adrenaline and titanium determination stronger than anything she could have imagined in her life, grasping at herself to find the strength to grab the knife and raise her arm. Akko watched blankly as Diana's shivering arm made its way above the potion, the knife slicing her skin and drawing a single drop of blood, which fell straight into the potion.

Then Akko's eyes opened again. The potion shot vividly into her view, its previous white taking on a pure, vibrant blood-red colour, pulsating with power and staring right at her.

"D-Diana?" Akko asked weakly, her voice tremoring as she staggered towards the blonde on the ground beside her. Thin trails of blood leaking from her neck and her fingertip, she lay sprawled across the floor, her breaths thin and her eyes half-lidded, almost motionless.

"The... potion," Diana whispered, her eyes falling closed.

"Diana!" Akko screamed, grasping her shoulders, tears pooling profusely under her eyes and covering her face. She couldn't care less about the potion.

"Po... potion..." Diana begged her.

Akko's head shot up, glaring at the potion. All of a sudden, the entire of universe of anticipation that had been eating away at her was gone - replaced by guilt, pain and rage. All she cared about was Diana. Still, she knew Diana was right.

Akko took a firm hold of it, lifting it to her mouth. She took a deep breath before tilting it back to drink.

And she froze. She felt every drop of the liquid spilling through her body, charging through her nerves like lightning. She gasped then fell to the floor, her limbs not responding to her. She clenched her teeth as pain faded into numbness and all the lights around her dimmed.

She clenched her hand again, suddenly struck by how strangely warm it felt. Akko's eyes darted open, her heart pumping in her chest and warm breath leaving her mouth as a cloud in the chilly air. She swore she could hear laughter in her ears, the silver moonlight illuminating her like gold. She felt tired, but neutral - the ravishing hunger she had grown so accustomed to that she hadn't realised its constant intensity was completely gone, and for the first time in many months, she looked up at the night sky and wanted nothing more than to let her head fall back against the grass, close her eyes and fall asleep. Hot breath ghosted against her lips as she let out a long, tired sigh.

“No way…” she whispered, looking down at her body as though expecting some drastic visible change.

Then her memory of the last few minutes came back like a tsunami, slamming into Akko as a chill down her spine, a horrified gasp leaving her mouth as she tried to jump up, only to find herself far weaker than she had expected and fell ungracefully to the ground. Undeterred, she quickly tried again, awkwardly scrambling up on all fours, turning towards the still girl beside her.

"Diana!" She shouted, crawling towards her and taking her shoulders again. "Diana! I took the potion! The potion worked, see?" She shouted, a wide smile etched onto her face that she suddenly didn't feel like as Diana didn't respond. "Hey, Diana?" Akko asked quietly. "Hey, Diana!?" She repeated loudly, rising to her knees to cradle the blonde - who let out a deep, strained breath. Akko's eyes widened.

"Akko," she whispered, her face falling into one of pure bliss. "It worked..."

"R-right!" Akko answered nervously, glancing around them in the empty moonlit courtyard, where she had forgotten that they were still under a black night sky. She pushed hard through her legs, lifting Diana up with her. "Everything's good now, right? You did it!" She bleated. Diana's arms fell limply. "Hey!" Akko shouted, her eyes darting around the courtyard as she tried to remember the fastest way to the hospital, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion suddenly slam against her.

"Yeah," Diana whispered. "Good."

"L-let's get you to the hospital!" Akko huffed, grimacing at the effort of carrying the girl as her muscles threatened to give out under whatever power they had lost. She reached one of the doors and stepped inside, panting, as Diana didn't respond. "Diana! Say something! Talk to me!" She pleaded, stepping through the corridors. Diana hummed quietly.

"Do you remember that time... After Luna Nova's costume party... When we talked about what friends are for?" Diana asked quietly. "It was after you collapsed and I helped you up... You said it was doing movie nights and staying up late... And not judging each other when you wake up late too."

"Yeah, I remember that!" Akko nodded, biting her lip hard as she had to strain her ears to hear Diana’s fading voice.

"And you said..." Diana continued. "Trying out new recipes... Or going to the new café down the road... And all these things... We were both actually thinking about doing with each other, weren't we?" Diana smiled again. Akko swallowed thickly. She remembered thinking that.

"Hey, Diana?" Akko asked again, her voice weak as she felt Diana's skin growing colder. "Diana? Remember, we talked about going to the beach! We talked about swimming in the sea, and then getting dressed in something warmer then writing messages in the sand as the sun sets! Doesn't that..." She panted, pushing open the door to the empty hospital room open with her foot. "Doesn't that sound great? I just c-can't..." she stammered. "Can't wait to go out with you to... do all of that!"

Akko let out a cry from the effort, sinking to her knees in front of one of the beds and setting Diana down on it as gently as she could before taking a hold of her hand, gasping for breaths with burning muscles. Her wand fell uselessly to her side and rolled across the floor - not that she had any idea what to do with it at that time.

"When you get better, that'll be fun, right? Right, Diana?" Akko asked, leaning her head on the bed as her eyes fell shut. "Right?"


	14. Chapter 14

Akko's body hurt.

She was vaguely aware of light around her but paid it no attention as her brain swam through its thousands of stray thoughts. There was a loud, muffled sound coming from above her and light swimming against her closed eyelids.

She felt incredibly sick. Her muscles were sore and wouldn't respond to her, her throat was dry and tense, her lips parched, a subtle but constant throbbing in her head and there was a morbid, heavy sinking in her stomach, its metallic taste lingering on her tongue.

Still, her body was lying on something comfortable. As she gradually opened her eyes, she saw familiar beige walls around her. All the details were far too blurry to make out, but she had been in that exact place enough times to immediately realise she was in a bed in Luna Nova's medical area.

As her clogged ears gradually cleared, the muffled sound became apparent as rain. It was raining hard. So hard that she couldn't hear herself think.

Finally the rest of her body woke up as she groaned quietly, raising a hand to clutch her head. There were a lot of windows in the area, tall and wide - she couldn't begin to guess the time but it was dazzlingly bright - a line of blaring sunlight shooting into the room and settling on her.

Registering the subtle tingle of sunlight, Akko shrieked, violently retracting all of her muscles, finding herself curled in a ball in the far corner of her bed to escape the torturous light - only to pause as she realised it was hitting her skin and she didn't feel a thing.

She opened her eyes again, grimacing at the sudden stinging in her muscles, and slowly turned to the window. She cast her eyes between the window and herself, experimentally holding up one of her forearms, staring in bafflement as it shone in the light - and the only thing she felt from the rays of sunlight kissing her pale, fragile skin was warmth.

She swallowed, goosebumps rising on her skin as she stared with wide eyes for a long period of quietness broken only by the impact of rain on the roof. After a chill ran down her spine, she realised she was shivering. She looked up, registering the emptiness of the room she was in. -

How had she ended up in this bed anyway?

Akko furrowed her brow, recalling passing out, knelt on the floor beside...

"Diana," she whispered, her heart seizing up. Her eyes moved automatically to the door as she swung her body to the side, planting her feet on the floor. Akko huffed, trying to stand from her bed, only to stumble forwards and take a firm hold of the table beside her to stop her from falling to the ground.

It was almost like learning to walk again - she had to push her muscles a hundred times harder than she expected with every movement she made, quickly feeling her heart beating hard in her chest as she became short of breath.

"D-Diana!" She managed again, forcing the breath from her lungs. She staggered, her legs giving out under her body before her knees hit the ground. Akko hissed, begging herself to stand up when she heard a commotion from the corridor outside - suddenly the door burst open and a figure from behind gasped, rushing towards her.

"Akko!"

"Diana?" Akko slurred.

"I - n..." the figure faltered, before shaking her head. Akko looked up, thinning her eyes to see familiar ginger hair - a pained look on Lotte's face. "Are you okay?" She eventually asked, kneeling down beside Akko to support her weight. "Sucy was supposed to stay until I arrived but she must have left before her shift was over-"

"Where's Diana?" Akko muttered, gladly accepting Lotte's help as she rose to her feet.

"Akko, y-you're supposed to stay here until you've recovered..."

"I've recovered," the brunette insisted darkly, resisting against Lotte who was trying to lead her back to her bed. "Where's Diana?" She asked, shooting her friend a sideways glance.

"She..." Lotte hesitated, fiddling with her hands. "She's in the third room. B-but no one is allowed to enter the room apart from-"

"Just take me there," Akko cut her off. "Please."

"I'm... I was..." Lotte stuttered, her shoulders uncomfortably hunched. She met Akko's eyes, wide and desperate despite her tone, and sighed. "Fine," she said quietly. "Just..." She began, but paused, shaking her head. Wordlessly, she began to walk towards the door. Akko clenched her teeth in focus as the world came swimming back to her in waves far too profuse for her to handle - dizziness slammed against her as the world began to rotate, her eyes digging into the large engraving of the number three on the door a few steps to her left as though it was her vision through a tunnel. "Are you sure you shouldn't return to your bed?" Lotte pleaded. Akko shook her head, instead reaching out towards the door.

Lotte cleared her throat.

"E-excuse me-" she began outside the door, but Akko didn't even notice as she let all her weight fall into the door, which was thrown violently open.

"Akko!" Lotte scolded her, lurching forwards to support her as she doubled over. Akko's strained eyes darted up to scan the room, a heaving of dread in her chest as it faded in and out of focus.

"Akko!" Came a shocked elderly voice.

"Akko, you're awake!" came another, younger one.

"Where's Diana?" Akko bleated, paying no heed to the hospital staff and professors in the room - scanning it desperately, she caught only glimpses between the figures blocking her view - wires, a mask, tubes, gas tanks, a beeping computer - deathly white skin, a container filled with red fluid.

"Diana?" one of the professors repeated - as she came into focus, Akko realised it was Ursula. "Akko, we need to make sure that you're okay-"

"Just tell me," the brunette breathed.

The nurse slowly stepped up to Akko, meeting her eye.

"Diana was in a very bad state when we found her," the woman began. "But she is likely to make a full recovery." Akko felt all the breath in her lungs slowly leave her, a tired smile coming to her face.

"How are you feeling, Akko? Can you tell us what happened yesterday?" Someone asked.

Ignoring everything else, Akko's mind clasped around one truth. Diana was okay. She would have been ecstatic if she hadn't been so overwhelmed with relief that she let go of everything, immediately collapsing to the floor as her vision turned black again. Everything that happened afterwards was completely lost on her before Lotte and Ursula carried her back to her bed in the hospital.

For a while, Akko drifted in and out of consciousness. She had no sense of time - at some points the room was bright and at others dark. There would always be someone by her side - either a professor, nurse or one of her dormmates who would bring her food, but never Diana. She was asked to give her account of what happened, so she explained what she remembered. The call from Croix in the middle of the night, the archives, the courtyard, the potion - she paused before saying she had bitten Diana for fear of the repercussions the blonde had been terrified of, but it didn't seem important now. They explained to her that they had found Diana and Akko in the hospital room together, Akko collapsed by the girl's side and quickly set to treating them.

It all passed in a haze. She was so desperate to see Diana again that everything else ticked by like sand in the wind. At some point, she realised that several days had passed - she had spent more time conscious recently, and suddenly they were telling her that she and Diana were being discharged from the hospital.

Contrary to when she had first woken up, there was no rain. Judging by the sun it looked like it had just passed midday - she had been brought food not long ago too. Lotte had just finished with her shift by Akko's side, and the school had perhaps wisely decided to let Akko and Diana reunite together without anyone else's company. As such, Akko noted Hannah leaving Diana's room as she stepped out of her own, noting the ineffable smile on the girl's face. Akko still felt slightly weak but otherwise fine, stepping out of her room and into the corridor.

"I'm glad to see you're healthy," Hannah offered her before leaving.

Akko smiled, pausing outside Diana's door.

"Diana?" She asked softly, hoping to hear the girl's response and be in her presence - as it had always been. Like when she had so desperately wanted to see her after first waking up her, and even back at the party when she had collapsed - it came so naturally to seek out the girl she loved.

"Akko," came her response - and unmistakably Diana's voice. It didn't sound laboured and weighed down with responsibility as it had for months now - just excited. "Please come in."

She didn't wait another moment to push open the door and jump into the hospital room, instantly scanning for Diana - and there she was, standing in the centre of the room, meeting Akko's eyes, her hair unstained and softly flowing down, her tired posture gone and her eyes shining more brightly than they had in what seemed like an eternity.

"Diana!" Akko yelped, leaping into the girl and wrapping her arms tightly around her, only to be swung around through the air, gleeful laughter coming from Diana. The room was bright, and with it the sun brought an amazing young excitement that made everything new and fresh.

"Akko," she responded again, pulling Akko close to her body. They felt each other's breaths, each other's every move and twitch, the tickling of hair and the squeezing arms. It was real, and every touch warmed the already warm blood under Akko's skin which, like Diana's, had regained its colour since last they'd seen each other. "Akko, are you okay?" She asked, taking the brunette by the shoulders and meeting her eyes again. "How do you feel?"

"I feel awesome!" Akko shouted. "Your potion worked, Diana! Look, I'm fine, no sunlight burning thing!" She answered excitedly, jumping to stand in the sunrays through the window to prove her point. "I've been sleeping at night and I haven't even thought about biting anyone's neck in ages!" Diana laughed. "But what about you? I -" she paused. "I saw you when we had just got in here, you were hooked up to a load of machines and stuff..."

"Blood transfusion," Diana answered. "Hannah has the same blood type as me. So you'll have to be extra thankful to her when you see her."

"R-right! Will do!" Akko answered.

"But to answer your question, I haven't felt this good in a very long time," Diana said, sighing contentedly.

"Diana..." Akko began, aware of the moisture pooling around her eyes but this time it wasn't for exhaustion or hopelessness. "You saved me..." she mumbled, biting her lip and facing the ground. "You saved my whole life." Diana swallowed before nodding slowly. "Thank you," she whispered, burying her face in the girl's chest again and holding her tightly. "I love you. I love you, Diana."

Diana smiled, wrapping Akko up in her arms.

"And I love you," Diana whispered soothingly, stroking her hair in the sunlight and allowing a moment for thought. "So... Does that make us even?" She asked.

"Oh, shut up," Akko huffed, shaking her head. "You never owed me."

Diana smiled contentedly before suddenly frowning as a thought hit her.

"Akko, do you remember the conversation we had about... A, ehm, relationship?" She cleared her throat.

"You bet I do~" Akko grinned.

"Ursula told me that our friends have been informed we're being discharged now. They're likely waiting for us in your dorm."

Akko nodded excitedly, before turning around to cast her eyes back to the hospital bed.

"I thought I'd get used to this place last year when I kept hurting myself," she began. "But now I never want to see it again," she admitted.

"Don't keep getting hurt," Diana responded, following Akko's gaze to the equipment by Diana's bed. They couldn't wait to leave it all behind them.

"Well then, should we go and meet them?" Akko asked brightly.

"Yes, let's go," Diana smiled. Akko giggled, placing a quick kiss on Diana's cheek - the action she had been longing to do causing her to turn almost as red as it made Diana, goofy grins on both of their faces and hands entwined. With one last glance to the dark reminders behind them, the two girls turned and left the room.

When they opened the door to the red team dorm, they were assaulted by a chorus of cheers and hugs - their reception was extremely bright, and Akko had never seen her friends so happy before, even after the events of last year. They were both reminded of the time after Croix's pixel monster had been defeated, where they had collapsed on top of one another in one relieved hug. Only this time, Diana didn't have to watch awkwardly as everybody else fell to the ground as, whether she wanted to or not, she and Akko very quickly became the centre of festivities. Among the constant laughter, no one seemed to mind the proximity - even Constanze was laughing brightly.

"Girls, girls, please," Diana's voice eventually cut through the gradually falling rabble. "I appreciate this but I don't think my body is ready to be compacted like this quite yet."

"I was so scared for you two!" Lotte whined, burying her face in Akko's side. Sucy smiled, her hand on the ginger's shoulder.

"It's okay," Akko answered simply, nervously patting her friend's head. "It's good now. I'm fine! Diana found the cure!"

"Actually, what happened?" Barbara asked quietly. "I mean, before you two ended up... in the hospital?" She added. Diana smiled.

"It was Croix who figured out the details," Diana answered, "so it was easy for me to find a cure in the archives, and it just so happened that everything we needed was in the potions area. It was so sudden, but that’s all there was to it."

"And Lukić was not happy about how her room has been treated recently," Sucy deadpanned. Akko shrugged.

"She had it coming," Akko mumbled, moving to sit down with her bed, Diana close by her side. Eventually the others had settled down slightly, bunched tightly together around the small room.

"There is a matter I wanted to bring up with all of you," Diana said after a deep breath. And with that, the silence in the room was tangible. Barbara and Lotte looked like they already knew what she was going to say. "I've, ehm... Well, Akko and I-"

"Geez, no need to be so formal about it," Akko cut her off. "Are you hoping they'll get bored and leave before you can say it?"

"E-hey!" Diana huffed.

"Besides, it's not like any of them don't already know," Akko grinned. "Maybe the green dorm..." She mused.

"Akko," Amanda hissed, her eyes wide. "Why is there gossip you didn't tell me?"

"Well, basically..." Akko mumbled, turning to face Diana, who coughed into her hand.

"Akko and I are now officially girlfriends," Diana explained.

Whatever concern she had for their reactions was proven to be completely unjustified as the room exploded - it was hard to tell who was saying what when everyone was suddenly being so loud again, and Akko and Diana almost felt themselves shrinking back against the wall, their faces growing redder each second.

"I knew it!" Lotte shouted, high fiving Barbara as Amanda stared.

"How the hell long has that been going on?" She complained. "I could have been your wingman!" She hissed. Diana shuddered.

It didn't take long for the conversation to descend into mayhem and, much to Diana's and Akko's relief, their friends began to make conversations between each other and it began to feel more and more like when they used to meet up and spend time together - only this time, Diana's dorm mates were far less reserved about teasing her about her closeness with Akko.

The day after that, Holbrooke held a whole school assembly in the auditorium and addressed the students on the recently passed vampire issue - more and more people had been finding out recently, and it was best if she made an official statement before it became public information by accident. Strangely, Akko and Diana ended up getting less attention from others in the school than they had been before - fortunately, the news of their relationship remained a closely kept secret among the nine of them, and they ended up getting some much-needed space.

It still took weeks for things to go back to normal - or at least, for Akko to grow accustomed to waking up in the morning to attend lessons. It took time for people to stop giving her odd looks and for her to overcome her jitteriness whenever she saw the sun, or the occasional jolts and flashbacks when someone's neck came into view. Still, even the exhausted look on Ursula's face faded and Akko found her on several occasions having long, light-hearted chats about nothing in particular with Croix. As it turns out, her work and discovery on Akko's case had earned Croix some rewards in the facility - namely better access around restricted information and materials - and it didn't take her long to get straight back on her work on Wagandea.

Stepping back into the games room as a set of nine witches with nothing dark lingering at the backs of their minds was amazing. Aside from the drastic dip in Akko's grades, prompting the quick response from Diana in offering her own private study session for her girlfriend (which ended up as an excuse for them to spend more time together), it felt like nothing was wrong. Their movie nights picked up again, and it didn't take long for Akko and Diana to start getting closer and closer until more often than not Akko was sat on the blonde's lap and they had the bed to themselves. Likewise, their Sunday morning broom training sessions picked back up again, where Akko was disappointed to find that her weirdly enhanced abilities hadn't stuck around. Still, Diana ended up flying a lot closer to her as they practised, encouraging her to push herself a little harder than she normally would. Akko saw the blonde getting more playful than she had ever seen, flying loops around her or even kissing her on the cheek if she shot past her, prompting Akko to try to catch up and do the same.

In all her festivities, there was something that Akko had forgotten. In truth, it was something that she had forgotten long ago, and was reminded of very suddenly by the excited conversations of a group of passing first-year students.

Back at the start of the year, Headmistress Holbrooke had announced to the whole school that Luna Nova would be hosting a dance with the boys from Appleton in a few months.

That was in three days.

Diana was just as shocked as Akko had been when Akko brought it up with her - somehow, she hadn't caught onto it either as things slowly settled back to normal. The two were sat eating lunch together in a courtyard during lunch break, soaking in the sun and listening to the sound of the younger students from the canteen through a few doors and the distant broom practise just through the canteen on the field. Diana was taking her lunchtimes off clubs and studying recently just to be with Akko as everything slowly came back to the brunette. On the past few weekends and even sometimes during lunch hours, the two would travel around Blytonbury together on what Diana admitted, with great embarrassment, were dates. They remembered travelling down to the beach together one time, spending hours upon hours just talking under the sun. What with the slightly cloudy weather and the wind blowing sand against them, it wasn't the idyllic scene they had pictured between them so often before then but that didn't do a thing to dim their enjoyment. At Akko's suggestion they had ended up getting a generous amount of ice cream, and Diana had caught her writing childish messages in the sand whenever she thought Diana wasn't looking - some of which Diana huffed and quickly erased, some of which caused her to start blushing. It was both astonishing and adorable how much the simple joys of building sandcastles entertained Akko, and Diana didn't care if she was seen indulging in such childish activities.

While word of their relationship was still kept secret, there was no doubt between them about who they would be dancing with.

  
  
  
  


After three days packed densely with dancing lessons with Diana, and Lotte obsessing over the dress that Akko would be wearing, the time of the ball was very quickly upon them. And Akko was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. Stood inside a back room near the main school hall, Akko hadn't stopped fiddling with the length of her deep red dress since they had arrived there an hour ago. It was relatively plain and, to Akko's relief, it didn't fit too tightly but it took a long time to handle how it fell down to her ankles - she was not used to this kind of clothing.

"Akko, you'll be fine, I promise," Diana said soothingly, placing a chair next to her and sitting down beside her, lightly touching her shoulder. "Your dancing has come along."

Akko looked up to her girlfriend - struggling not to be distracted by her attire. Needless to say, she had chosen one from a collection of extravagant pale celeste blue dresses with intricate silver threads - this one in particular was cut at the knees and showed quite a lot of her back, not to mention its snug fit.

"Though we might have a problem if you keep staring at me like that," she deadpanned.

"Sorry, sorry," Akko mumbled, drilling her eyes back into the ground. "Why did I let Lotte convince me to wear something so... bright? This is gonna draw so much attention," she moaned.

"If you're worried about drawing attention, maybe dancing with Diana wasn't the brightest idea," Sucy mumbled. Barbara and Jasminka had separately gone ahead into the main hall where the dance was just beginning, and with Constanze showing no interest in dancing and Hannah and Amanda both vacant, that left just Diana, Akko, Sucy and Lotte in the back room together. Glancing away from her dorm mates helping each other with their dresses, Akko could occasionally catch glimpses of the area just outside of the main hall - the Appleton boys had arrived. Obviously there would be a flocking of students hoping to dance with Andrew - and likely a group of Appleton boys hoping to dance with Diana. Akko smirked.

"I'm surprised you decided to join in with the dance at all," Diana glanced towards Sucy. "As I understand, Constanze is in her workshop as though nothing is happening right now."

"I'd be in my room too," Sucy sighed. "But Finnelan figured I'd use this time to go somewhere I'm not allowed, so she forced me to attend. Don't expect me to dance."

Lotte chuckled.

"You should give it a try," she suggested, standing up and stretching her arms out. "Well, we're heading off now. Good luck, you two!" She smiled at Akko and Diana before disappearing down the corridor with Sucy.

Just as Akko was about to speak up, another door behind them opened - Akko spun around to see Hannah and Amanda entering the room together - Hannah wearing a deep red dress with intricate gold decorations, and Amanda wearing... a tuxedo? Not only that, but their arms were linked, each of them blushing deeply.

Diana's and Akko's eyes widened.

"H-hey," Amanda offered awkwardly before Hannah, her eyes drilling into the opposite wall in what Akko couldn't tell was focus or frustration, pulled her forwards and continued walking and they quickly fell in step again.

"...The hell?" Akko mouthed. There was a long silence.

"Well, at least we won't be the only ones, right?" Diana grinned, holding out her arm for Akko to take, as they had practised.

"Y-yeah," Akko responded weakly, taking a breath and sliding her body up next to Diana's, nervously linking their arms together. A certain excitement made the air heavy as they got closer and closer to the hall, fortunately not encountering anyone else on the way - despite everything that they had been through together, Akko was still electrified to the core as she locked arms with Diana and looked up to her eyes for support.

"Let's show them how it's done, Akko," Diana said, pausing as they reached the main doors. "I love you."

"I love you too," Akko smiled, standing on her tiptoes to peck Diana on the lips.

With a confident nod, they pushed the door open and stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it~ Huge thanks to all of you who read all the way to the end, especially those of you who left comments! It's been a lot of fun ♥ I'd really appreciate any of your reviews/thoughts about this story and my writing now that it's finished.
> 
> Again, thanks to DinoSmore for proofreading most of the story and [Koumagda](https://koumagda.tumblr.com/) for the art!


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